


Planted in the Darkness

by NullBubby



Category: Mario & Luigi RPG (Video Games)
Genre: Script Format RPG Battles, big dark clouds of darkness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23058157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NullBubby/pseuds/NullBubby
Summary: It's just another peaceful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone is relaxing and having a good time, until the sky is filled with dark clouds and tragedy strikes Peach's Castle. The Mario Bros. are sure to save the day again!...but they're nowhere to be found. An unlikely gang of minions and partners past team up to defeat a familiar foe, not just after the kingdom this time.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Danger!

**Author's Note:**

> Short-ish backstory on this one:
> 
> I was originally just going to make this where the partners from the RPGs go on an adventure, but soon realized that a lot of things wouldn't quite work that way. So I then decided to add an unlikely hero (which ended up being Plant) to the bunch to make it more... normal. At this point, I had already decided to make it like the Mario & Luigi series, so I debated on whether the other party member should act like the babies from Partners in Time or as a standard Luigi. Eventually, I settled on combining the two into pretty much a single character that would fight as one.
> 
> Also no Tippi because I haven't played Super Paper Mario and none from the first two PMs because there's too many of them. ~~does that one goomba from paper jam even count~~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some baaaaaaad things happen in the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im just gonna see if i can name all of the chapters after songs in the mario & luigi series lets see how far i can go

Deep down in the darkest depths of the Underwhere, a purple orb lay motionless on the floor. In its previous life, it had been destined to become one of the most powerful beings of all time, but had been defeated by an unlikely trio. Nearby, a short beanish fellow sat next to a stone wall, staring blankly at what had led to his own downfall in the past. At last, he decided, it was time to get something done. With a few steps towards it, he placed his gloved hand on top of it, finally awakening it from its eternal slumber. As it opened its eyes and hovered up, the figure stared upwards towards it and broke into a maniacal laugh.

* * *

In the gardens of a large castle, adorned with delicately cared shrubs laying at each and every corner, a suitcase lay on the ground. Several caretakers passed by it, paying no mind despite being in the middle of the path. Eventually, one Toad walked up to it and tried picking it up and moving it. As they touched it, it suddenly grew two eyes and a mouth, causing the handler to drop it and run off, screaming.

It took a look around, observing its surroundings after being deactivated for so long. Then noticing a sudden disturbance in the atmosphere, it opened itself up, revealing a complex control panel and a radar. While in the midst of this, something dark flew into the castle through the roof, leaving a loud ruckus inside and debris tossed around every which way.

It closed itself up and examined the damage. “This... is dreadful.”

* * *

A rat scurried around across the floorboards, sniffing for food. Finding a trail, it followed it around, zig-zagging on the floor up to a hole next to a large wooden door. As it passed by, the door opened quickly, leaving it to run off into the hole. A bright light came in through the opening, then dispersing evenly into the rest of the room as a floating yellow ball with shoes came in. When completely inside, the door shut closed, leaving the room dark once more. They approached a large bookshelf laying at the wall and started searching through it.

The rat slowly came out of its hiding place, quietly making its way back to the trail. All was going well, until it stepped on a wobbly floorboard, giving a loud creaking sound. It quickly dashed back into the hole, but going so fast, it got stuck in the opening. By now, the yellow sphere had noticed and hastily darted out of the room, looking for someone to play the exterminator role, bumping into the shelf and knocking over a familiar book.

* * *

Through the main gate, down the red carpet, and out the window, a Piranha Plant lay in its pot, head down, getting some peaceful rest. A bubble in its mouth adjusted its size as it took deep breaths, getting very close to popping but not quite. The rest of the garden was empty, and all was still. Everything was going to be just...

_ SMASH! _ It immediately got up, looking around, furious that its nap had been interrupted. A few chomps around later, and it realised that there was still nothing nearby. Many pieces of rubble from the castle wall lay just next to it, and a glace upwards showed a large, gaping hole, too tall for it to see inside. Angry about losing its perfect moment, it waddled towards the main entrance to give whoever ruined it a good beating.

Several Toads lay motionless on the floor, some having spears strapped to their backs. The first door up ahead had been crashed through with a large hole placed in its center. The plant attempted to simply push the door open, but it had been blocked off. With a large leap, it barely snagged onto the bottom of the opening, and it pulled itself through with quite a bit of effort. Past that lay a few more guards on the floor and another broken door. One more leap through and it made its way into the throne room.

A large, shadowy sphere floated just above the throne, emanating a purple gas. The potted plant approached it, gathering the orb’s attention. It turned around to reveal two red eyes staring at it from within a black star shape on its face. Several spikes then protruded off of it, and it gave a roar. Floating higher, it concentrated for a little, then flew out through the roof, creating another hole. As the plant looked around confusedly for a moment, a trash can robot with vacuums for arms smashed into the room through the door sending shards of wood flying. After crashing into another wall and falling over, it got back up and approached, wildly swinging its arms. Piranha Plant growled and snapped at it a few times, prepared for a fight.

Before anything could go down, a small yellow sphere flew into the room, being shocked when it saw the situation unfolding. It flew behind a pillar and watched as a battle was sure to commence.

The robot opened its trash can lid, taking out an enormous bundle of trash and tossing it towards its foe. Without a move, the plant was struck by it and sent onto the ground. Picking itself back up, it prepared for an attack of its own. Before being able to do anything, however, the yellow ball came out from its hiding place and hovered just above the plant.

“Hello yello!” it said. “My name’s Starlow, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Well, er, maybe not. Anyways, that robot looks dangerous, so you gotta take it out! Do you need some help learning what you can do?”

It looked upwards, then shook its head.

“Alright, well, be safe. Hit ‘em hard!”

The plant trotted up to the robot and spiked its head for an attack. A moment later, it swung it forwards, bonking it clumsily as the spikes disappeared. Walking backwards a bit, the bot then gathered up another ball of trash and sent it rolling. Once again, it collided, sending the plant to the ground. As it got back up, Starlow came up to it.

“Hey! You know you can dodge attacks. Want to know how?”

This time, it nodded.

“Great!” She flew up to the robot. “Hey, you there! Mr. Junker robot!” It looked up. “Uh, that trash attack of yours stinks! Even I could dodge it, any day!” It hopped up and down, wailing its arms. Creating another chunk, it rolled it forwards. Just before it hit, Starlow yelled, “Stop!” somehow managing to freeze it in place. 

“Press the X button right now!” The plant looked up, obviously confused. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, but that means something to someone else,” she said, staring upwards at one of the walls.

Somewhat instinctively, the plant grew spikes out of itself and smashed its head forwards, sending pieces of garbage flying about the room.

“Great work! Keep that up and it’ll be done in no time!” With that, she flew back to the sidelines.

Another failed headbutt later, then Starlow came back up.

“Hey! It looks like you might need a lesson on action commands. Want to learn about them?”

It shook its head.

“Oh, okay then.” She floated back. “Do your best!”

One more round of trash balls and head bonking later, Junker started getting crazy. Swinging its arms around, it started creating an even larger trash ball. When it was complete, it was thrown towards the plant, smashing into it from the top. After it bounced off, it stumbled around, then fell over.

“Wait, no! Get up! You can’t fall now!”

With one last look around the room, it closed its mouth and blacked out.


	2. Dark Dungeons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plant finds itself in an underground jail and meets the others that have been locked up.

“...psst... get up.”

Plant recovered enough to look around just in front of itself. It didn’t quite have enough strength to move its head around.

“Hey... come on, get up.”

It was inside of a stone cell with nothing but a metal bed—from what could be seen—placed in the corner. A tall crack in the wall lead to a narrow passageway, but it was much too thin to be passed through by anybody.

“...please... we’re all counting on you...”

The sound of metal squeaking came, followed by a short gasp. Something clanged shut just behind its vision, then a long period of silence as it lost consciousness again.

* * *

Footsteps approached, quickly alerting Plant and getting it up. This time, it had the energy to move around, although not enough to do so normally. The sound passed before it got the chance to look around. It was back in the cell, and a good look around showed that the bed it had seen earlier was the only thing inside of it. Jail bars with a locked door guarded the opening in the front from escape. Several undistinguishable sounds could be heard from rooms behind the side walls. As the footsteps returned, the surrounding noises quickly subsided. Just outside, a Hammer Bro holding a pile of keys walked by, taunting at the plant when it saw it was up. Angered by the motion, it dashed up to the wall and attempted to bite them, but was blocked by the bars.

A short snicker emerged. “Some rogue minion you turned out to be, eh? You’ll get what you deserve soon enough.” They walked off in silence.

It watched them disappear down the outside corridor, then decided to try to escape.

For its first attempt, it bit the bar and tried pulling on it, almost knocking one of its own teeth loose in the process. Spitting onto the ground vigorously, it tried something else. Storing something in its mouth for a little, it opened up, and a ball of fire emerged, passing through the bars and charring the wall just past them. With another futile effort, it tried to do the same thing with poison, but still nothing. Now getting frustrated, it spiked its head and slammed it forwards, cleanly slicing off an area of bars, just wide enough to exit. As they clanged on the ground, voices emerged.

“What was that?”

“Someone must be preparing for a breakout. Props to them for recognizing how so.”

“Hey! Whoever’s there, please help us!”

“Yeah, this place is the pits!"

It stood there idly for a moment, then hopped outside. It bounced over to the next cell, where Starlow was waiting just at its front.

“You did it!” she cried. “Can you... do whatever it is you did to help me out of here?”

It charged up a smash and broke the bars, opening the passage out.

“Thanks a lot. I’m pretty sure there are others around here, so there’s still work to do!”

Plant looked up disappointingly. Before another word could be spoken, a Hammer Bro appeared at the end of the corridor, walking towards them and holding their hammer up.

“Uh oh! Here comes trouble!”

With a few snaps forwards, it prepared to fight. As the plant was about to approach the enemy, Starlow flew into the cell and returned, carrying a star shaped candy.

“Hold up a second.” She flew up to the plant. “Here, take this! It’ll help you fight!”

Without any hesitation, it extended its roots and devoured the thing whole. A surge of power flew through it, and a soft glow briefly emerged. Moments later, a few colored blocks with different icons appeared above it, forming a circle. The one just over its head was red with a picture of a spiked ball. Staring up at them in confusion, Starlow floated in front of it and explained.

“These here are called command blocks. They essentially tell you what you can do. Let me show you.” She floated above the ring. “Press the X button here.”

Not knowing quite what to do, it jerked its head upwards, slightly headbutting the block.

“Good. Now choose your target. In this case, only the Hammer Bro is here, so press the X button again.”

Walking up a little, a headbutt was prepared, then halted just as a spark appeared on the top of its head.

“Stop!” Plant was locked in place. “Press the X button once more here.”

This time, the attack collided while the spines were still out, sending the Hammer Bro staggering a little. From seemingly out of thin air, the word “Excellent!” appeared just above the battlefield.

“Great work! What you just did is called an action command. They let you deal more damage if you time your button presses well. The better you time it, the more damage you’ll deal, so remember that!”

After walking back to its spot, the Hammer Bro winded its arms a few times and tossed a mallet that rolled along the ground. Just before it hit, Starlow yelled, “Stop!” and it paused in place.

“Press the X button one more time for me here.”

Without giving it any thought, it leaped upwards quickly with the help of its propeller-like leaves, just managing to pass over the hammer.

“Nice. When an enemy is going to attack, remember to use that X button. It works wonders not just here, but everywhere!” A short look of confusion later and she continued. “A-anyways, that’s dodging attacks for you. Also remember that enemies will telegraph their attacks before letting them out, saying what they will do. But you won’t know right off the bat what they’ll do, so you’ll need to have some experience fighting them first.” Floating back to the sidelines, she quickly remembered something and returned. “One more thing. If you can’t quite get an attack down, then hold the A button. It allows you to block some of the damage, but not all, so try and use it sparingly.” She flew back for the last time. “That’s all. Now go for it!”

Several rounds of headbutts and hammer tosses later, the Hammer Bro finally burst into a small array of stars, disappearing in the process. Plant bit around a few times, then grinned mischievously.

“I knew you could do it! There’s still others to free, so let’s go free them.”

At the first cell, a suitcase with feet and a face stood, having just witnessed the battle unfold.

“Fabulous work, you two,” it said. “May I please request that you set me free of this terrible containment unit?”

Smashing its head forwards with spikes, the bars fell off, allowing for an escape.

“Many thanks for the help. Let me introduce myself. I am Stuffwell. I was invented by the professor to serve as a storage device for the adults and infants of red and green. It would be a pleasure for me to join you on your journey.”

Starlow spoke for Plant. “You mean those two? I’ve helped them in the past as well. Actually, er, you know what I mean. Speaking of which, this place looks all too familiar to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Also you’d be welcome to join us. We’ll need something to hold our items and whatnot anyways.”

“I am glad I could be of use.” Stuffwell approached Plant’s pot until it was standing a couple of steps away. “Say, that head smash attack looks like it could be put to use in several different places. Perhaps it could be put to use on the surrounding enemies, even.” Just then, a rat approached the trio and squeaked a few times, alerting them of its presence. “Might I suggest using your technique on this rodent?”

It gave him a muddled look. Starlow, getting the idea, said, “Press the X button here.” For some reason, this phrase had now become a sign of instinctive action, essentially communicating with its subconsciousness and telling it what to do.

Slamming its dome forwards at the enemy, everything grew still as a large star dropped down on them, blocking everyone’s vision. When touching the ground, it dispersed, revealing the rat and plant standing just next to each other. Not a moment later, Plant struck the rat with its spikes, dealing a small amount of damage. Bouncing back, Stuffwell gave an explanation.

“Well done. If you attack an enemy outside of battle, you will start with a preemptive attack on them as it begins, or a first strike if you will.” Walking up, he then looked up towards the ring of command blocks. “Let me provide a brief summary of each of these, as they will all be necessary to succeed. This is the Prickly Swing. It deals good damage, but it cannot strike airborne targets, so be wary of this.” The next block was blue with a mushroom. “This is the items selection. It allows for the use of select objects that have been gathered from a multitude of means.” The last showed a stick figure in a running pose on top of a light blue box. “And finally, this is flee. It allows for escaping battles without penalty, but do not be tempted by this. If you do not battle anything, then you will not get any stronger and will eventually get overpowered by other foes.” He spun it back to the spike ball. “Strike this block for me.” It was bumped with a headbutt. “Now select your target.” It walked up to the rat and lurched its head backwards, prepared for a smash. When a glow emerged from its head, Stuffwell called out, “Halt!” He approached and stood just before the two of them. “Notice the glow here. This indicates when to time the input for maximum result.” Time resumed, and with one mighty swing, the rat was hit with a good load of damage, “Excellent!” appearing in the air once more. “Nicely done. Remember to time your input with the spark and all will be well.”

After walking back, the rat scurried up and surrounded its pot. Realizing what was to be done, it struck with a well-timed headbutt, sending it back to its original position.

“Now you’re getting the hang of it!” Starlow shouted. “Keep at it!”

A single, powerful smash later and the mouse dispersed into stars, leaving Plant giving off its victory pose once more. It now noticed that not too far off, a bar with a rapidly changing number was placed in the air. A flagpole was placed just behind it, raising along with the bar. When both disappeared, it set back to work.

The next chamber held a floating robotic disc with bunny ears. The top of it showed a screen with two blue eyes.

“Let me out of here!” it cried out. Smashing out an opening, they floated out until it was just in front of the group. “Thank you so much! My name’s Beep-0. Not sure if you know me, but I was of assistance during the Rabbid incident. I hope I can help you guys too. It’s the least I can do to repay you.”

“Sure thing,” Starlow said. “It looks like we might need all the help we can get, seeing as there’s a new threat to tackle this time around. And now that I think about it, shouldn’t the Bros. have done something by now? If they haven’t, then I have a feeling something really, really bad has happened to not just them, but this entire kingdom.”

Everyone except Plant was a little disturbed at the thought. “Well, we can’t spend too much time worrying about that now,” Starlow declared. “Let’s go get the rest of the prisoners freed!”

Next on the list was a familiar pillow shaped humanoid floating just behind the bars. “Starlow!” He looked at the others. “It looks like you have found new acquaintances as well. Please set me free from this prison! Well, actually, this entire place is a prison, but you get the idea.”

Upon being released, he introduced himself. “My thanks. I am Prince Dreambert of Pi’illo Island. I had been vacationing here for a nice time, but I was knocked out by some unknown force and sent down here.”

“Well it’s nice seeing you again, Dreambert. It looks like there are just a few more prisoners here, so let’s go find them!”

As the squad exited the corridor, Beep-0 remembered something. “Guys, wait up!” Everyone stopped and turned around. “I’ve recently updated my Tacticam to allow it to be used in these types of battles as well. Can I give it a try on the next thing we fight?” Plant nodded, and the others gave their own forms of confirmation. “That’s great! Lead the way.”

The plant took the lead, stepping its pot over the sand and rocks making up the floor until they reached a Hammer Bro. It quickly noticed them and tossed a hammer in their general direction, no exact target as the party was so large. “Wait!” Beep-0 shouted, managing to stop the hammer and the one who threw it. “Wow, that actually worked? Anyways, let me activate the program.” A short while passed, then he said, “Done! Now go get ‘em!”

The hammer resumed on its path, hitting Plant and creating the star again, blocking their vision and placing the two at opposite ends of an arena. “Watch this,” Beep-0 said, hovering into view.

* * *

_*Plant and Starlow look around confusedly.*_

**Starlow:** What am I looking at?

 **Beep-0:** My new upgrade, of course! It allows for easy viewing and recording of these fights so we can look at them later and study patterns and strategies for these enemies.

 **Starlow:** Well, sounds great then. We won’t be able to notice it now, will we?

 **Beep-0:** Correct. This doesn’t actually affect the outcome of the battle, just allows us to replay it essentially.

_*Plant snaps forwards a few times, beckoning for a fight.*_

**Starlow (turning to Plant):** It looks feisty! Go get ‘em!

**Piranha Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro: Excellent!**

**Starlow:** Nice job!

 **Beep-0 (shouting):** Let it focus!

 **Starlow (whispering):** Sorry.

 **(Feed):** A hammer is sent towards Plant. A slightly mistimed jump sends it falling on top of it, dealing minor damage.

_*Plant snaps a few times in front of itself, clearly angry.*_

**Piranha Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro: Ok!**

**Starlow:** Woah there! Don’t let that anger get the better of you! Keep it cool, and just focus.

_*Plant nods in confirmation, resting itself for a moment*_

**(Feed):** A hammer is sent towards Plant. An almost perfectly timed jump sends it clean over the projectile.

**Piranha Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro winds up its arms, then hurls a set of hammers in slow succession. All but one are leaped over.

**Piranha Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro: Great!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

A short pose later, and Plant was ready to return to the field, but was stopped by Starlow.

“Hold on!” she said, floating up next to the flagpole. “Let me explain what this is for. You see this flag here, about midway up?” The plant turned around and looked at it. “It represents your progress to the next level. When it reaches the top, you’ll level up! When that happens, your stats will increase, making it easier to defeat enemies. And if you level up enough times, then you’ll rank up as well! What happens then? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.” With that, they returned to the field.

“Any idea where the other prisoners would be?” Dreambert asked.

“From what I’ve seen in my times here, there are more cells down the road a little, so maybe they’re over there. I know there’s more because I saw them when I was taken down here.”

The group walked towards the next set of cells until running into a rat, racing around erratically in front of them. Plant dashed towards it, then quickly backed off after it started repeatedly running back and forth in front of it. Holding its head up, it timed a swing at just the right time, colliding directly with the rat.

* * *

_*Plant appears next to Scaredy Rat. With a quick swing, all enemies are dealt minor damage. Plant returns to its position on the field.*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Scaredy Rat: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Scaredy Rat surrounds Plant, preparing to pounce on it. Not a moment later, it is hit with a strong headbutt, sending it scurrying back where it came from.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Scaredy Rat: Great!**

**(Feed):** Scaredy Rat approaches Plant, standing just in front of it. Taking a quick step forward, it fakes out Plant, making it jump. When landing, Scaredy Rat dashes into it, dealing minor damage.

_*Plant bites forwards a few times angrily*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Scaredy Rat: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Scaredy Rat is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

Plant continued forwards, the rest of the group tailing close behind. A few more Hammer Bros. and Scaredy Rats later, they reached the next hallway and entered.

Immediately through the opening, the group noticed that the first few cells in this section were completely blocked off with metal plating instead of being composed of bars. The only thing allowing for sight inside of them was a tiny window in the doors. Everyone crowded around the first one to take a peek, but nothing could be seen.

Deciding to check anyways, Plant headbutted the wall, except this time bouncing off of it as it was so strong. Recovering from the daze, they could now hear a voice coming from behind.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“It’s uh... a whole bunch of us!” Starlow answered. “We’re going to find a way out of there for you, okay?”

“That would be great. Please hurry, I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

Up ahead, one more cell was completely blocked off like the previous one, while the rest were designed like normal. Just about all of them were empty, which seemed odd to them. As they reached the last cell, they heard the muffled sounds of a Shy Guy from behind it. Peeking inside, they could see it hiding in the corner, its hands covering its face. Even though they couldn’t see it’s front, something seemed a little off.

Plant smashed an opening in it, but the Shy Guy kept in the corner, clutching its head. Plant decided to investigate while the others stayed back, watching. When it approached, it tried looking to find out what was wrong, noticing when it had seen their side. Walking back out, it gave the best explanation it could to Starlow with its limited communication skills. Luckily, she was able to translate it for the rest of the group to hear.

“That Shy Guy has lost his mask. Plant suggests that we help it.” Everyone gave a sign of confirmation except for Beep-0.

“Wait! Why should we spend our time finding this mask for it? What good is it gonna do?”

Plant gave a short explanation to Starlow, who nodded in agreement. “I see,” she said.

“What did it say?” Dreambert asked.

“Just wait and find out,” she replied.

The group made their way out of the hall and into the next sandy section. Just after they exited, a duo of Hammer Bros. ambushed them from the side, catching them off guard.

“Where do you think you’re going?” one of them asked.

“Yeah, and how did you even get out anyways?” the other said.

“Well actually, it was pretty simple,” Starlow explained. “This plant here was able to smash its way out and free the rest of us, no problem.”

“Argh! You won’t get away with this! Have at you!”

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro A: Great!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro A approaches Plant and tosses a few rounds of hammers, some bouncing over its head. After hitting with a few, it returns to its spot. Hammer Bro B approaches, repeating the attack. Expertly dodging all of them this time, they attempt to go in for a ram, enraged. With a well-timed jump, Plant leaps on top of them, bouncing off with a spurt of fire.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro A attacks with a barrage of hammers, all missing. Its ram is countered easily. Hammer Bro B tosses a single hammer, bouncing along the ground and rolling under Plant.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro A: Great!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro A is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Hammer Bro B throws a barrage, missing all of them. Its ram is easily countered.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Hammer Bro B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

As Plant gave a pose, the flag barely missed hitting the top of the pole. Looking at it somewhat sadly, it returned to what it was doing.

The Hammer Bros. burst into sets of stars, dropping three keys down with them. Stuffwell gathered them up in his storage, then pointed them towards the two cells they had just seen.

By a stroke of luck, one of the keys fit perfectly into the first lock, cleanly opening the door. Nudging it open with its head, Plant saw a flat, floating, shiny crown inside. Both immediately exited.

“Thank you so much!” it said. “You have my eternal gratitude.”

“You’re welcome! Care to join us on our quest to...” Starlow turned to the rest of the group. “What are we doing?”

“We are attempting to escape from this lockup,” Stuffwell answered.

“In that case, sure!” the crown said. “My name’s Kertsi. I came out from that sticker covered book in the attic of the castle. I’d be glad to help you.”

“Great! There should be only one more prisoner left, so let’s get them out.”

One of the two remaining keys fit into the lock on the other barricaded door. The door opened to reveal a flat, floating paint bucket, much like Kertsi except for their bodies. Turning around, it revealed two eyes on its front.

“Oh, hey there! Nice seeing some friendly faces around, for once,” it said. “The name’s Huey.”

Starlow floated close to him. “Alright then. It looks like we still have some space available in our party, so you want to come with us?”

“I’d be glad to! I sure want to get out of this place as much as you guys do.”

They agreed to find out what the last key was for, so they tried using it on all of the cells they came across. With no results on any of them, they continued forwards, only to quickly reach a dead end at a large, locked door.

“Where are we supposed to go now?” Starlow asked after seeing it.

“I would advise turning around and traveling the other way,” Stuffwell suggested.

“Oh yeah. Whoops.”

When the group reached the site of the first Hammer Bro battle, they continued trying the key, but still no luck. As they passed by Plant’s original cell, Huey noticed the crack in the wall and called the others.

“I think I may be able to go back there and search around,” he said, looking towards it.

“I’ll come with you,” Kertsi decided, and they both slipped through.

When they came back into sight, they held up a Shy Guy mask, seemingly having no difficulty in doing so despite being made of paper.

Huey placed the mask down on the ground, which Stuffwell quickly stored. “Just our luck, this was the only thing back here. Guess that was to be expected, though, seeing as we weren’t exactly going somewhere many others have even gone.”

“We could give this to that shy fellow back at the previous cage, could we not?” Dreambert suggested.

Beep-0 gave off a mechanical sigh. “There better be a good reason that we’re doing this.”

Plant took the mask and trotted up to the Shy Guy, still huddled in the corner. Placing it on their head, it was quickly snatched and placed on their face, turning around once finished. After seeing how many of them there were, however, it crouched back down against the wall. Everyone but Plant backed off and let it do its thing. It stood there for a while, not doing anything, then affectionately rubbed its head against their red robe. They gave off a short mumble of comfort, then stood up and stared up at it. A moment later, it wildly started jumping up and down, pointing behind Plant and the rest of the group. They all turned around to see a trio of Hammer Bros., prepared for a fight. Shy Guy hopped onto Plant’s pot, holding onto its stem tight with fear. The two parties stared at each other and prepared to fight.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

_*Shy Guy continues to clutch onto Plant, who is not caring one bit.*_

_*Stuffwell walks in on the back of the battlefield. All but Hammer Bro Trio watch. He looks between Shy Guy and Plant a few times.*_

**Stuffwell:** Perhaps now would be an ideal time to explain the use of that red fellow. It looks like he may be able to assist in combat.

_*A new command block—that of a pot on a red background—appears in the ring*_

**Stuffwell:** And perfect timing as well. Select the new action, please.

_*The pot is selected, being labeled as ‘Jump’.*_

**Stuffwell:** Now select the target.

_*Hammer Bro A is selected*_

_ *Plant drops Shy Guy on the floor in front of it. It hops slightly, then bounces off of Shy Guy, getting sent to the floor on his face, towards the enemy. Stuffwell pauses it just before landing on top of its target with its pot.* _

**Stuffwell:** Press the X button now.

_*Plant bounces off of Hammer Bro A, dealing moderate damage and performing a backflip just above it. Stuffwell pauses it just before hitting again.*_

**Stuffwell:** Now once more.

_*With another fancy backflip, Plant bounces off of Hammer Bro A with a burst of flame, dealing moderate damage and returning to its position. Shy Guy climbs back on after it lands.*_

**Stuffwell:** Nicely done. This is simply known as the Jump. When performed successfully, it will prove to be more damaging than the Prickly Swing, but be cautious of enemies with spikes, horns, flames, or other dangerous tops, as you will instead be the one damaged.

_*Stuffwell walks behind Plant*_

**Stuffwell:** Give them a good beatdown now, if you so please.

 **(Feed):** Hammer Bros. A and C use a barrage attack. A misses with all, getting dealt a fiery counter. C hits with two of its projectiles. Hammer Bro B uses a hammer toss, barely hitting.

**Plant: Jump - Hammer Bro A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro A uses a barrage attack, missing all and getting countered. Hammer Bros. B and C use a singular hammer toss. B misses, while C hits cleanly.

**Plant: Jump - Hammer Bro A: Great!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bros A and B use a barrage attack. Both miss with all, but B dodges the counter. C uses a singular hammer toss, missing by far.

 **(Feed):** Hammer Bro A is defeated!

**Plant: Jump - Hammer Bro C: Ok!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro B uses a single hammer toss, barely being dodged. Hammer Bro C tosses a barrage, missing and getting countered.

 **(Feed):** Hammer Bro C is defeated!

**Plant: Jump - Hammer Bro B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Hammer Bro B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

Plant used its signature victory pose, Shy Guy hopping on top and riding it around. The nearby flag reached its highest point, emitting a glow and signifying a level up.

A blue background appeared from behind them while a set of stats appeared in place of the experience meter. Plant extended itself upwards, biting the air high above it. Shy Guy hopped off before it did so and ran from side to side of it, waving his arms. All of the flying partners came in from the stat board’s direction, dangling a fishing line with Beep-0 on the end of it. Stuffwell was placed on top of him, though it didn’t affect the difficulty of holding them both up. Seemingly reading its mind, they dropped the two of them down to the level of the POW stat, where Beep-0’s face was replaced with a rapidly changing number. Eventually, it settled on a 2, which was added to the total stat count. As Plant bit forwards once more, Shy Guy leaped in its direction, holding its hands up high.

The members that hadn’t seen the entire battle slowly came in, now noticing their new ally. Shy Guy held back onto Plant’s stem tightly in fear.

“Hey, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Starlow assured him. “We’re all here to help.”

Everyone nodded or agreed in some sort of fashion. Feeling slightly better, he looked up at them, still grasping the plant. After a few moments, he still suck on, so Plant walked out with him as a passenger.

Past the first few cells once more, another long stretch of sand lay forwards, only this time, several large crystals were scattered about. Plant decided to try and break one of them. A strong headbutt easily smashed it, dropping a single coin in the process. Deciding it wasn’t worth the effort, it let the rest of them be. A few Scaredy Rats and Hammer Bros. later, they reached a gap over a small stream. Behind it, an extendable yellow ladder was placed parallel to the floor.

“How are all of us supposed to get across this?” Huey asked.

Immediately after, Plant extended its stem forwards and bit the ladder, extending it over the pit.

“That answers your question,” Kersti said as they crossed.

A floating record book with the letter S on its top lay just ahead. Stuffwell stopped the group and pointed it out.

“It would be wise to activate this Save Block at the moment. Some unknown danger may lie up ahead, so it would be our safest bet to save our progress of this journey up to now.”

Plant struck it with its head, then continued forwards to a large, empty mesa with crystals scattered about. A pipe was placed at the end, but something didn’t settle right for most of them. As they all approached, something dropped onto the ground right in front of them, only barely missing. Getting back up, two more of the same creature dropped down and faced them. On top of all of them was a single spike planted on a red Buzzy Beetle shell, which was pointed towards the group menacingly. Plant snapped forwards at them, prepared for a fight.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

_*Before anyone makes a move, Beep-0 comes into view*_

**Beep-0:** I think I have just the thing for this. Give me a second.

_*A few seconds pass, then upbeat accordion music plays from him*_

**Beep-0 (leaving):** Alright, continue.

 **(Feed):** Spike Top A walks in front of Plant and slowly approaches. With a luckily timed jump, it bounces over. Spike Tops B and C surround Plant from both sides, looking towards the floor. Plant jumps a few times, then performs an Emergency Guard and gets hit by both of them hopping at each other, smashing it in the middle.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top A: Great!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top A is flipped over, then gets back up without another move. Spike Tops B and C use a ram attack. B misses while C lands the hit from a failed dodge, cleanly poking Plant’s pot. Apparently, this is enough to deal damage through it.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top A is flipped over, then gets back up without another move. Spike Tops B and C surround Plant, looking upwards. After a few random jumps from Plant, they leap into the air towards each other, colliding above their target.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top A is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Spike Tops B and C use a ram attack, both missing.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top B is flipped over and cannot move. Spike Top B uses a ram attack, missing.

_*Stuffwell comes into view and approaches the defenseless enemy.*_

**Stuffwell:** Observe how this foe is currently flipped over. Attack it with a jump, if you will.

**Plant: Jump - Spike Top B: Critical Great!**

**Stuffwell:** Notice the increased damage from this attack. This is known as critical damage. Certain enemies have weaknesses to certain attacks, so make sure to learn them all as quickly as possible. Exploiting these vulnerabilities will make it easier to defeat them.

_*Stuffwell walks out of sight.*_

**(Feed):** Spike Top B gets back up without another move. Spike Top C uses a ram attack, hitting cleanly with its point.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Spike Top C uses a ram attack, missing.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top C: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top C cannot move!

**Plant: Jump - Spike Top C: Critical Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top C gets up without a move.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Spike Top C: Great!**

**(Feed):** Spike Top C is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

The ambushers disappeared into a set of stars, opening the path out of the dungeon.

“We did it! We’re finally getting out of here!” Beep-0 cheered.

“Yeah, and hopefully we can find out what’s going on this time,” Starlow said. “The Bros. should be fine after all of this, right?”

“I would assume so. They are more than capable of handling themselves,” Stuffwell said.

Everyone approached the pipe, only to get stopped by the sound of a loud clanging traveling down it. As they backed up slightly, Junker slammed onto the ground inside, waving its arms wildly.

“Not again!” Starlow complained.

Junker dashed forwards, smashing into all of them and knocking them all out except for Shy Guy. As it approached him, he quickly played dead, hoping he could be left alone like the others. When it was just in front of him, it slammed a trash can on top of him, trapping him inside and knocking him unconscious.

  
  



	3. Mysteries of the Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is split up and Plant has to play an underwater stage.

Up above on a stalactite, a drop of water was collecting, waiting to become heavy enough to fall. Minutes passed, until finally, it began to separate from its peak, then fell down and landed on a patch of grass with a plop. The droplet quickly dispersed into the shallow roots of the greenery placed directly on top of the rock, some seeping into the cracks running along the floor. Several rounds later, a tiny pool formed at the end of one of the crevices, slightly overflowing and running into others laying about. All was still, and not a sound was heard besides the soft dripping of water.

One point in particular lay just above a spotted plant, which slept peacefully atop a small hill. This rock didn’t like how it just sat there, so simple and tranquil, so it decided to wake it up from its slumber. Gathering up a large bead, a drop of water fell down, colliding cleanly on its head, yet it kept still. After another attempt, nothing came, so the process repeated until one side decided to make a move otherwise.

* * *

_Plop..._

The sound of dripping water could be heard from far off. It echoed a little off of the narrow walls.

_Plop..._

The sound was repeated, only now closer and on a rough surface instead of a liquid. A reverberation approached again, except to a lesser extent.

_Plop..._

This time, the noise seemed distant and up close at the same time. Its head shook a little from a sudden chill.

_Plop... plop..._ plop.

A water droplet landed directly on Plant, startling it and waking it up. Struggling to pick itself up, another one fell, scattering all around into even smaller bits and falling onto the rock floor. As it finally got up, it looked feebly at the surrounding area.

Several rock platforms covered most of the brick floor, which was buried in a short layer of water. The many ledges spurted scattered blades of grass, revealing stone beneath. Two pillars were placed at opposite sides of the floor, extending just above the rest of the ridges, turf slightly sticking over their tops. At one of the ends of the room, a short passageway led to a small pool. Two braziers served as an invisible gate in, its entrance a short set of steps. Besides a pink trash can on one of the ledges, nothing stood out in the area.

Bounding up to it, Plant studied it closely to find that it had no lid. A red robe barely stuck out the top, and a blue boot could be spotted hanging over the edge stilly. It bit the bottom of the can, lifted it upwards, and emptied it, dropping an unconscious Shy Guy on the ground. As he recovered from his current state, he glanced forwards, quickly noticing his savior just in front of him. He walked up and clumsily climbed onto its pot, falling over as soon as he made it on top. Plant simply gave him a strange look and decided to go for the floating ? block it had just noticed.

Even with Plant’s propeller leaves giving it an increased jumping power, it wasn’t quite enough to reach the block. When trying to reach off of one of the platforms, it found that while giving the necessary height, they didn’t provide enough lateral distance to reach. After touching the ground once more, it pondered on how to hit it. Shy Guy, having somewhat recovered, picked up a pebble off of the floor and tossed it up, bouncing straight off the box. As he got back on, Plant got an idea. Inside its mouth, it charged up a blaze and sent it away, igniting the block and turning it red with negative question marks. Despite this, it still didn’t open it up. Plant, now frustrated, plucked Shy Guy off itself and swung its head at him, sending him flying towards the box and smashing it open. Out came Stuffwell, falling clean on his feet, and a bubbled shield with a flame emblem planted on its front.

Approaching the duo, Stuffwell said, “Many thanks for rescuing me. You have my gratitude.” After glancing at the bubble on the floor, he walked up to it. “Could you come over here?”

The two came up to him.

“This here item looks to be important. Perhaps it would be best to store it now and find a later use of it.” Opening himself up, it somehow gravitated inside of him. “I would advise that we search for the others, as they could be in peril at the moment. The suggested path would be through that lake up ahead.”

As Plant approached the pool, Stuffwell compacted himself and hopped into its pot. Upon reaching the water’s edge, Shy Guy hopped off and looked nervous. Not quite knowing what was up, it gave a few short nudges, but to no effect. A few moments later, he was swiftly shoved into the water without warning. Upon landing on the surface, he waggled his limbs around helplessly, slowly sinking down below. Plant realized what it had done and extended its stem and bit him out, preventing an imminent drowning. As he shook himself dry, it tried to find the best way to get both of them through the water. With an idea, it suddenly lurched forwards and devoured him whole. It felt a short struggle coming from inside which quickly faded into a hollow blank once he found that there was no escape. Once it was prepared, it bounced down into the water to continue the journey.

With Shy Guy and the pot, the large weight led to a quick descent to the bottom of the hole. It was met with a long tunnel at the bottom which stretched on for a long time. Along the way, it found a green Koopa shell, which it decided to take.

Sea mines were placed in the path, so it had to be careful to avoid blowing itself up. Long pieces of kelp sometimes obstructed its vision, making it slightly harder to navigate. It swept its head forwards at the flowing strands, proving to be more than enough to get by. Behind one particularly large set of them sat a short opening that lead above ground. Through the passageway was the water’s surface which conveniently wasn’t too far off the ground. With a large leap, it climbed up into a short cavity. At its end, a ? block was placed on the floor. Spitting Shy Guy out, Plant approached to hear a muffled voice from inside. It smashed the box open to reveal Beep-0 bouncing out, seemingly fine despite the conditions he was just in.

“Ugh. That box was the worst! Worse than the prison cell, definitely. Anyways, thanks for freeing me. Where are we?”

Stuffwell hopped out and faced him. “I am uncertain of our current whereabouts. The rest of our party is presently separated from us, and we are trying to locate them so we can have better chances of a departure from this location.”

“Well that’s just great.” He approached the pool of water. “Where did you guys just come from?”

“That basin directly in front of you.”

“Oh. Good thing I’m waterproof, or I’d be screwed.”

Shy Guy wasn’t given a warning as he was swallowed again. Stuffwell approached the pond, Plant close behind.

“Now, back to adventure!” He hopped into Plant’s pot.

Below the surface once more, the group headed forwards to quickly reach a larger and more open space than they had just been in. A few columns of stone lead from floor to ceiling, and kelp was scattered across the grassy floor. Slimy springs waved to and fro from their positions on the ground and roof of the area. Plant attempted to bounce past one of them, but was stopped when they blocked its path. Trying the other side, it was met with the same results, so it slammed its head forwards for a fight.

* * *

_*Plant appears at the enemy side, then smashes its spiked head forwards, dealing damage to all targets. It returns to its spot afterwards, spitting out Shy Guy on the floor. He hops onto the pot after getting up.*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Snoodle A: Miss!**

**(Feed):** Snoodle A wobbles back twice, then slams its head on the ground, creating a set of shockwaves. Plant dodges the first, but is hit by the second. Snoodle B waves side to side a few times, restoring 20 health to Snoodle A.

**Plant: Green Shell - Snoodle A: Critical!**

_*Plant drops the shell in front of itself and slams it forwards, striking with a direct hit.*_

**(Feed):** Snoodle A is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Snoodle B burrows into the ground. A moment later, its head pops out, slightly closer to Plant. After a few rounds, it appears just in front of it, then gets smacked with a headbutt, sending it back to its spot.

**Plant: Jump - Snoodle B: Ok!**

**(Feed):** Snoodle B waves itself, healing for 20 health.

**Plant: Jump - Snoodle B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Snoodle B does a shockwave attack, missing with its single quake.

**Plant: Jump - Snoodle B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Snoodle B burrows into the ground, and after a few randomly placed pop ups, it reappears in front of Plant and bumps into it, returning to its position afterwards.

**Plant: Jump - Snoodle B: Great!**

**(Feed):** Snoodle B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

The flag reached the top of the pole again, signaling a level up. Despite them being missing at the moment, the partners returned to carry Beep-0 and Stuffwell, this time being set down to the Teeth stat point. With a lucky 3 points added, the two posed and returned to their exploring.

A couple more Snoodles later, they reached a large ramp leading high up. Bouncing upwards, Plant didn’t notice the spiked creatures falling down, and by the time it did, it was too late for it to do anything.

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**(Feed):** Urchin rolls along the floor towards Plant. It is easily countered with its own set of spikes.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Urchin: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Urchin rolls towards Plant, getting countered and sent back.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Urchin: Great!**

**(Feed):** Urchin rises into the air, then starts retracting its points. Shortly afterwards, it falls back onto the floor and shoots its spikes out in all directions, hitting a guarding Plant.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Urchin: Great!**

**(Feed):** Urchin is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

Several more Urchins bounced down the hill, and after a few it realized that there were way too many for it to take out all. Doing its best job to dodge them, it finally made it to the top, where it was met with two large eels ready to bite it with a chomp much stronger than it could ever do. A swift evasion led it up and out of the water into a warp pipe.

A save block was conveniently placed at the other end of the line. Directly in front of it was an immense hole leading deep down into another underwater tunnel. With no hesitation whatsoever, Plant ate Shy Guy once more and leaped in, landing with a large splash.

A few green shells were placed along the path, but there were no enemies to use them on. Shortly after passing one, a ring of Boos appeared, almost completely blocking the path forwards. Plant attempted to fight one of them, but was teleported back to the beginning of the path upon collision. Getting the idea, it leaped forwards once more, stopping at the first circle. Thankfully, they were underwater, so it could swim through the center safely. Several more sets of them lay forwards, but some precise dodging led it through all.

At the end, a long, empty tunnel filled with only a few Urchins stretched on for quite a distance. Plant defeated all in its path, seeing as the amount of them there was manageable this time.

After a not particularly difficult battle, it leveled up again, choosing POW to upgrade. This time, the roulette stopped on a 1, leaving a somewhat disappointed Plant staring at the number blankly.

The surface of the water had finally become visible, seemingly free from obstacles. A long scale up a ramp later, it emerged, finding a grassy area with a couple of trees. Besides the stone ramp leading from the water up, the entire land was covered in greenery. A large chest lay at the edge of the platform, behind it a reddish sun falling beneath the horizon. Plant immediately went for the chest, but it happened to be locked. Bashing its head at it, the lock popped off and the box opened, revealing the rest of their party tumbling out from such a cramped space.

“Hooray! We’re freed!” Huey cried out, floating up into the air.

“Glad it’s you guys, too,” Starlow said. “It’d be big trouble if someone or something else found us.”

While the rest of the party was concerned with their regrouping, Kertsi floated to the land’s edge and stared at the sunset. “Wow. Just, wow.”

The rest of the group went up and looked off into the distance.

“It’s... it’s beautiful,” Starlow admired.

Huey was immersed in the view. “Now I’m not usually one who would be interested in this stuff, but this... this could really paint a pretty picture.”

Even Dreambert was enveloped in it. “This is just the most perfect moment one could wish for. I don’t think anything could turn that around.”

“You might want to double check that last statement.”

Everyone turned around to see a green Shy Guy standing before them. On his back was a white flag and a magic wand. Except for Starlow and Dreambert, everyone was confused on who this stranger was and why they decided to break the moment.

“First that trash can, and now you? How did you even get here anyway?” Starlow was clearly angry.

“Who’s this guy?” Beep-0 whispered to Stuffwell.

“Not a clue.”

Huey turned to face everyone else. “You all just as confused as we are over here?”

“I certainly am,” Kertsi replied. “Will you please introduce yourself for us?” she asked the Shy Guy.

“At least some of you know who I am,” they mumbled. They turned to the portion of the group that needed an explanation. “I am Sergeant Guy, Royal Guard of lord Bowser. All who oppose him must be sent down.”

“Wait a second, didn’t you get demo-”

“You shut your mouth. You’re nothing more than a yellow ball with shoes, what are you gonna do?” He took out his staff and pointed it towards Plant. “And it seems we have some stray minions in your party as well. One of my own too,” he said, pointing it to Shy Guy, “what a disgrace to our kind. Say, why don’t you abandon these idiots and rejoin the cause?”

Shy Guy looked around a little and hopped off the pot. After a few steps towards him, he suddenly stopped.

“Don’t listen to him!” Starlow yelled. “You’d be much better off with us!”

“I second that,” Beep-0 said lazily.

Shy Guy looked around at all the people surrounding him. Huey was staring intently between the two of them, his eyes flashing between red and purple. Kertsi floated next to him, angrily eyeing Sergeant Guy. Starlow followed in suit, while Beep-0 was staring between them. Stuffwell was watching the scene, though it didn’t seem like he cared much for the result.

“Come on. We can forget all of this happened, just get over here,” Sergeant Guy encouraged.

Shy Guy looked around somewhat confusedly, then took a step towards his own party. A second later, he hastily bounced towards Plant and onto its pot.

“I’ll remember this,” Sergeant Guy grunted. He looked around himself for a second. “Even I could take you all on by myself.” Putting his wand back, he pointed towards them. “En guarde!”

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**(Feed):** Sergeant Guy pulls out his staff, a glow appearing from its tip. A second later, multiple clones of him are created, and they all march back. They reappear in a stack dashing towards Plant, the real one stationed on top, bouncing hastily. Plant prepares a swing and misses as the tower collapses on itself sending Sergeant Guy rolling into him. The clones disperse into purple puffs as he returns to his position.

_*Beep-0 appears in the background of the battleground.*_

**Beep-0:** Wait, I think I have something more fitting for this situation!

_*After a second, a quiet tune is heard, then gets cranked up as a xylophone solo plays, bridging into a fast paced beat.*_

**Beep-0:** That’s more like it. Keep at it!

_*Beep-0 takes his leave.*_

**Plant: Jump - Sergeant Guy: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Sergeant Guy pulls out his flag, tossing it in the air and catching it twice. He then prepares to toss it forwards, but stumbles and falls. One more trip, then it gets sent flying forwards, narrowly being dodged with a jump. It reappears on his side of the field on the ground and he puts it on his back.

**Plant: Green Shell - Sergeant Guy**

**(Feed):** Sergeant Guy creates a tower of clones, this time standing still on its top as he approaches. Quickly making the last step towards his target, the stack catches Plant off guard and knocks it spinning into the air The tower disappears into smoke and he returns to his position.

**Plant: Jump - Sergeant Guy: Great!**

**(Feed):** Sergeant Guy walks backwards, then reappears with a long line of clones. All but one have grey colored flags, each dispersing just before walking into Plant. The one with the white flag quickly runs around it and dashes it from the back upon reaching it, only narrowly missing from a lucky jump.

**Plant: Jump - Sergeant Guy: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** A tower of duplicates approaches, then collapses on itself, sending Sergeant Guy rolling forwards. A timed bash cleanly collides with him, sending him back.

**Plant: Jump - Sergeant Guy: Great!**

**(Feed):** The long line of clones returns, all but one of their flags grey once more. Plant notices the pattern and easily counters the move.

**Plant: Jump - Sergeant Guy: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Sergeant Guy summons a spike helmet with his wand and places it on his head.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Sergeant Guy: Great!**

_*Sergeant Guy flys back a little, falling face first on the floor. He slowly picks himself back up.*_

**Sergeant Guy (weakly):** I... will remember this!

_*He walks out of view.*_

**(Feed):** Boss defeated! Victory!

* * *

Plant leveled up, upgrading its POW stat only to get a 1 once more. Looking at it somewhat sadly, it made its final pose and returned to the oasis.

“Argh!” Sergeant Guy walked towards the edge of the platform, where a warp pipe appeared out of the ground. “I’ll be back for you!” With that, he hopped in, the pipe disappearing after entering.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

“Well that was certainly something,” Starlow said, floating towards the victors.

“Yeah, that guy was a total pushover!” Beep-0 said, approaching them as well.

“If I may interrupt this moment,” Dreambert started, “how do we get out of here?”

“Perhaps there is a hidden exit laying somewhere in the vicinity,” Stuffwell suggested.

“That seems like our best bet,” Kertsi said. “Let’s get looking.”

The group started searching around the platform in several different spots, but it wasn’t all that big in the first place. Most quickly came back to the center to report their findings.

“You guys think it could be back underwater?” Beep-0 asked.

“Underwater?” Huey questioned. “What were you guys even doing?”

“Guys, wait a second!” They turned to see Starlow floating at one of the edges. “I think you should come see this!”

Beneath her, a small green switch that blended in with the scenery lay inactive. Without any input from the rest of the group, Shy Guy hopped on top of it. Nothing happened for a moment, then one of the trees mechanically retracted into the ground. The last of the leaves disappeared to reveal a short robot with glowing green eyes. It wore a metal helmet painted with one red stripe down the middle and two blue stripes, all from back to front. It quickly showed a panicked expression upon spotting them and hopped into the warp pipe that just appeared.

Everyone stayed silent until Plant approached the pipe, studying the insides closely.

“Do you know this creature?” Dreambert asked, floating up.

Plant continued staring down into the darkness.

“I’d take that as a no,” Huey said.

Stuffwell walked up to them. “I would advise not spending too much time on the subject. After all, the kingdom is at stake at the present.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Starlow floated up to them, the rest following close behind. “We really ought to get going soon.” She took a short look around. “It looks like this is the only path forward, so let’s go!”

Most of the group hopped inside, except for Beep-0 and Stuffwell. Beep-0 activated his light and hopped in, and Stuffwell followed a short ways behind. This time, the pipe stayed standing, allowing for later reentry back to this new location.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it was unclear, the green shell is an item, not a direct attack.
> 
> And yes, I know Urchins appear in Paper Jam as flying enemies, but the ones that appear in the Galaxy games look kinda different from normal, so land enemies they are.


	4. Mixed-Up Scramble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new party member joins. And lots and lots of tutorials.

The entire landscape was made of nothing but wood. Several colors painted each side of one platform, which floated just above a branching path. The platform was empty besides a few dowels sticking out from the top, each large enough to be stood on.

A green pipe popped out the top from seemingly nowhere. Moments later, the tip of the pipe widened greatly and out exploded a large party. The ones that hovered were the first to look around.

“Where’d we end up now?” Beep-0 asked.

He received no reply as the rest walked to the edge of the platform to observe their surroundings.

Beneath them was a large, empty void that stretched on as far as they could see. Several floors allowed for travel above them, covered with walls, holes, and protrusions sticking out from top and bottom. The only way to reach the path was down a large drop.

Plant trotted up and looked towards the way forwards.

“Is that where we’re supposed to go?” Huey asked.

“It seems that way,” Stuffwell answered, walking up to him. “It would be advisable to find a safe way down for those of us that cannot float.”

Plant quickly got an idea. At the ledge, it hopped up and glided down slowly with its leaves, letting everyone else know its plan.

“It looks like we’re fine then,” Starlow said. “Everyone ready?”

They all gave their forms of agreement and floated down. Stuffwell hopped into Plant’s pot to hitch a ride. Upon jumping, Shy Guy covered his eyes until they reached the bottom.

A short clanking sound could be heard from one of the branching paths. Some looked around in confusion, while others plainly didn’t notice.

“Anyone else hear that?” Starlow asked.

“Hear what?” Kertsi questioned.

Stuffwell answered for her. “Something metallic, probably colliding with the surfaces around. It seems not too distant given the volume from our location.”

Plant took notice of it and became interested. It hopped over towards its source, where a short wooden wall blocked something off. Peeking over, it saw the helmeted creature from earlier, now balancing a small rocket ship on its head.

Upon looking up, it got startled and ran away across one of the paths. Everyone took notice and watched.

“Well there’s the culprit,” Starlow said. “Should we go after it?”

“That seems like our best option,” Stuffwell decided. “The rocket on its head looks to be our ticket back home.”

“Alright. Let’s get going then!”

Plant bounced a short ways forwards to find the creature hopping on top of a tall wall in front of them. As Plant approached, it hopped off the back and dashed ahead. Luckily, there were several platforms sticking out the front, so it hopped up and made its way over.

Immediately after the top was a dead end, the escapee nowhere to be found. After looking around, it went to the edge and looked over, where it saw a small platform sticking out and the helmeted creature shaking nervously. Plant attempted to slowly bite the rocket off, but was stopped as it noticed and hopped back up. It then attempted another escape, but tripped and fell immediately. The rest of the party appeared shortly after and blocked their escape. Panicking, its eyes darted around until settling on Plant and they dashed towards it.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!_ **

**(Feed):**??? looks around for a little, then stares forwards. It dashes forwards, where Plant is preparing a headbutt, but trips midway and runs back to its spot.

**Plant: Jump - ???: Excellent!**

**(Feed):**??? bounces in place, sweating nervously. Moments later, it dashes forwards, not giving Plant enough time to react and damaging.

**Plant: Jump - ???: Great!**

_*The rocket on top of ??? starts throwing out sparks and electrocuting, then suddenly stops.*_

**(Feed):**??? looks around, then trips on itself as it tries to dash forwards.

**Plant: Jump - ???: Ok!**

_*???’s rocket sparks a few more times, then stops.*_

**(Feed):**??? hops in place, then dashes forwards into Plant, narrowly missing from a jump.

**Plant: Jump - ???: Excellent!**

_*The rocket shocks itself, not stopping this time. Moments later, the thruster on the back activates and ??? is sent flying off.*_

* * *

The creature flew around in circles just above where the group stood.

“Perhaps we should do something,” Stuffwell suggested.

Plant crouched down and waited for them to come back for a pass. As it approached, it extended its stem and bit them out of the air. The rocket extended out a power cable snugly attached to the creature’s helmet and began tugging at it. Plant started lurching forwards with it and the rest of the group approached one by one to pull back. The rocket pulled fiercely at them, threatening to take them over the edge, until they finally broke the cable loose, sending the ship flying off into the distance. They all wrenched back one last time to bring the creature over the edge and fell over in exhaustion.

“Woo! We did it!” Huey exclaimed.

“Yeah, but there goes our way home,” Starlow commented.

“But that’s not all we did. Look what else we got!”

The party got up and surrounded the helmeted creature. It still had one end of the power cable stuck on its helmet, tightly fitting on top between the prongs. It cowered back in fear.

Everyone continued slowly approaching until Shy Guy got up and walked ahead. Upon reaching, he patted it on the head gently. It looked up slowly and they both stared at each other for a good while until he motioned towards the rest of the group. Looking up at them, it took a cautious step forwards. Shy Guy helped guide it forwards until it was right next to Plant.

Starlow slowly floated up to them. “See? There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“What about that?” Huey was looking towards a buzzsaw with eyes standing just before them.

The robot quickly ducked behind Plant’s pot. Plant simply approached the enemy and bashed it with its head for a battle.

* * *

_*Plant appears in front of the enemy side, then swings its spiked head forwards, dealing damage to all foes.*_

_*The creature walks up next to Plant and bounces somewhat uneasily in place.*_

**Starlow (approaching):** Hey! It looks like this metal guy might be able to help you out here! Let me show you.

_*She floats up to the creature.*_

**Starlow:** Hey, er, you!

_*It looks up at her.*_

**Starlow:** Watch this!

_*A moment later, a ring of command blocks appears above it.*_

**Starlow:** You see these? These are what you fight with. Watch, Plant over here can give a short demonstration.

_*Plant looks towards her and nods.*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Chuzz A: Excellent!**

**Starlow:** You see that? Give it a try, I’ll walk you through it.

**???: Shock - Chuzz A**

_*??? Walks up to Chuzz A and points its plug forwards, electricity flowing through it. Shortly after, a glow appears on the tip of it and Starlow pauses it in place.*_

**Starlow:** Stop! Press the Y button here.

_*An electric shield surrounds it momentarily, shocking the enemy. It then walks back to its position.*_

**Starlow:** Great job! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of this soon enough.

 **(Feed):** A large cylinder of wood drops down on top of Chuzz A. Just after, it gets cut into the shape of a short wave, which is sent sliding forwards. It pauses just before reaching ???.

 **Starlow:** Wait! I need to tell you that dodging is done with the Y button for you, got that? X for Plant, and Y for you, remember!

_*It looks up at her strangely.*_

**Starlow:** What I’m saying is press Y here.

_*The wave resumes and ??? hops just over it.*_

**Starlow:** Great, now one more thing. Go ahead and attack for me will you, Plant?

**(Feed): Plant: Prickly Swing - Chuzz A: Excellent!**

_*Starlow floats over to the enemy side.*_

**Starlow:** Now go ahead and choose the Jump action and select me.

**???: Jump - Starlow**

**Starlow:** Stop! Press Y here.

_*??? bounces off her into the air, turning head down on its descent.*_

**Starlow:** Once more.

_*??? bounces back to its location, shocking Starlow in doing so.*_

**Starlow:** And there you go! That’s battling for you. Just remember, X for Plant and Y for... you... Anyways go get ‘em!

_*She floats off.*_

**(Feed):** A large dowel is dropped onto Chuzz A and cut into a wave. It gets sent towards Plant, who quickly hops over it. Another dowel falls onto Chuzz B, this time carved into a hammer. Once finished, it floats up into the air above them and swings down on an invisible point towards ???, only narrowly being hit with a shock. Bits and pieces fly out from it, one hitting the original attacker.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Chuzz A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Chuzz A is defeated!

**???: Shock - Chuzz B: Fail**

**(Feed):** Chuzz B carves a chunk of wood into a hammer, sent towards Plant. It gets bashed away with a headbutt, dealing a counter damage.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Chuzz B: Great!**

**???: Shock - Chuzz B: Great!**

**(Feed):** Chuzz B sends a wave towards Plant, cleanly colliding.

_*Plant begins to sag and look weak.*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Chuzz B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Chuzz B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

 **(Drops):** Polished Pot

* * *

Upon the last enemy being defeated, Plant hopped up for a victory pose. Their helmeted friend hopped up a short distance away from it and bounced happily in place. Another flagpole could be spotted just behind it as well as an experience meter. Once finished, they returned to the wooden environment.

Stuffwell immediately walked up to the three combatants. “Congrats on the victory. If you may, I have several things in need of explaining. Would you mind pressing START now?”

Not a second later, he opened himself up, revealing a bare-bones inside with nothing but pockets placed around. Despite his face being to the floor, he continued with his speech.

“First up is my contents. As you can see, I am capable of holding a wide variety of objects, but for now let us keep it simple.” He opened up a pocket on his own, revealing nothing but a pot identical to the one Plant already had. “This is the equipment menu. Here you will find all of the gear that has been found thus far. Allow me to introduce equipping it.” The pot floated out and into the air, then swapped places with Plant’s own in an instant. The old one was stored back inside. “And there you go. Benefits of equipment include stat upgrades mainly, but they often have other added bonuses as well. Choose wisely.”

The equipment pocket was closed, then another opened, revealing a large stock of mushrooms.

“This is the items menu. All of the consumables gathered will be stored here. For example, mushrooms, as you can see. Let me explain how to use them. First, select the item to use with A.” One mushroom floated up into the air. “Now select the target. In this case, it seems Plant needs it the most, so choose it.” It flew above Plant, then dropped into its mouth. Immediately it began feeling much better. “And that’s that.”

Another pocket right next to the items opened with nothing inside. “This is the key items selection. Any important or otherwise notable objects found will be stored here.”

One last empty pocket opened. “And finally, the Special Attacks. These are powerful attacks that require more precise timing to pull off. Currently, we are in possession of none, but I am sure they will arrive to us very soon.”

Finally closing himself up, he walked back up to Plant.

Starlow floated up to the group of them. “Alright, now it’s time to get back journeying you three. Plant, Shy Guy, and...” She trailed off. “Wait, what’s your name?”

It said nothing and looked up at her.

“Okay, how about we give you a nickname, at least.” She turned to the rest of the group. “Anyone have any ideas?”

Beep-0 came up first. “I say we call it Helmet because it’s wearing a pretty cool helmet.”

Huey was next to speak. “You kidding me? That’s a terrible name. I say we call it Spark or Sparky because it uses that plug pretty well in battle.”

“How about Lil’ Sparky?” Kertsi suggested.

“I’m pretty sure that name is already taken,” Huey replied.

Starlow interrupted them. “How about BZZT? It’s a more unique name—at least in my opinion—and it reflects on its shocking capabilities.”

“I don’t have any suggestions myself, so I concur,” Dreambert said.

Everyone else agreed upon it, and it was settled.

“Welcome to the team, BZZT!” Starlow said. “Glad to have you here—any help is well appreciated.” 

She then floated around it and back up. “Say, I think there might be something else you could do for us. Press the R button for me now.” A short pause. “Once more.” Another pause. “Now press the Y button.”

BZZT hopped onto Plant’s head and pointed its plug forwards. Plant seemed only mildly inconvenienced.

“Now press Y again.”

A small orb of electricity appeared just before the trio, then quickly dispersed.

“That’s the... uh, electrify... Anyways, give it a try around here. You might be able to interact with a few things in your path.” She floated up to them, then back. “And it also looks like you can stay in that position for as long as you like, but without the ability to jump. You can still walk around and stuff, though. Now let’s get back to our journey!”

BZZT immediately hopped off and went behind Plant. Plant walked forwards a little and noticed BZZT trailing close behind. After a short while of getting used to it, they continued onwards.

“Wait!” Starlow went up to them. “Really last thing this time. Just remember that most actions with BZZT are performed with the Y button. That includes jumps and battle actions. Okay, now continue.”

At the junction’s other path was a large wall too tall to simply jump over. A power cable lay nearby, running behind and out of view. BZZT hopped eagerly behind Plant, then on top of it. The two moved forwards towards it and gave it a shock, and shortly after the wall retreated into the ground, opening the path forwards. BZZT stayed on as they continued.

Past the first ledge lay a large, shadowy chess piece, seemingly just a decoration. As they approached to go by, a red eye appeared on the sphere at its point and watched them menacingly. Before it did anything, Plant trotted up to it and let a shock emerge on it for a battle.

* * *

 **(Feed):** First strike: Shock!

 **(Feed):** Trawn A and B appear!

 **Beep-0 (approaching):** Guys, wait! Sorry about all the holdup with us all babbling on and on, but I just wanted to let you know that my Tacticam will now show the enemies that appear in battle and first strikes. That’s it, now do your best!

_*He leaves.*_

**Plant: Jump - Trawn A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Trawn A’s eye opens up wide. A moment later, a laser shoots aimed towards the ground and approaches its targets. Plant dodges over, while BZZT lands directly on top. Trawn B’s sphere lifts up and gets suspended in the air. The eye spins around, steadily gaining acceleration, then shoots a single laser out towards Plant, hitting cleanly.

**BZZT: Jump - Trawn A: Ok!**

**Plant: Jump - Trawn A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Trawn A fires a laser towards BZZT, this time being dodged. Trawn B uses a sweeping attack, missing both its targets.

**BZZT: Jump - Trawn A: Great!**

**(Feed):** Trawn A is defeated!

**Plant: Jump - Trawn B: Great!**

**(Feed):** Trawn B uses a sweeping attack, hitting only BZZT.

**BZZT: Jump - Trawn B: Ok!**

**Plant: Jump - Trawn B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Trawn B gathers energy above itself, then sends a ball of light headed for BZZT. It disperses upon getting electrocuted.

**BZZT: Jump - Trawn B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Trawn B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies defeated! Victory!

 **(Drops):** Mushroom

* * *

A series of platforms lay just ahead. Plant carefully hopped between them, hitting a ? block along the way and getting Polished Leaves. BZZT did its best to follow, but it fell off along the way. Plant almost didn’t notice, but heard it fall on the wood below and went back with it to try again. On their next attempt, they made it all the way to the end.

Several enemies later, both leveled up. Plant once again chose POW to upgrade. After finishing, BZZT hopped up into its own level up array and hopped up happily with caret eyes. It studied its options closely, then decided to upgrade its Spark attribute, getting a lucky 3 bonus points. It then spun around a few times and fell over dizzily with spiral shaped eyes.

Another branching path met the group, this time with three different ways to go. At the straightforward way, a set of three wall buttons and a power cable lay. Plant attempted to hit a few buttons and power the cord, but to no avail.

Starlow came up to them. “I think we need to go on the other paths first. It looks like they might have the clues we need to solve this puzzle.”

Across the first path was a short series of jumps guarded by several foes. Around a corner, a large beetle-like creature waited for them to approach, then charged towards them as it saw the group. Plant barely got enough time to dodge out of the way, but was hit by the second rush.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**_*Bzzap!*_ **

**(Feed):** Mandibug appears!

**Plant: Jump - Mandibug: Excellent! Lucky!**

**BZZT: Shock - Mandibug: Great!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug snaps in front of itself twice and holds back for a charge. Looking towards the floor, it dashes into BZZT, cleanly colliding and running straight through. Moments later, it runs in from the back, hitting again and returning to its position.

**Plant: Jump - Mandibug: Great!**

**BZZT: Shock - Mandibug: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug hops up and down, then prepares for a charge. It dashes into Plant, who hops directly on top of it, countering the attack and sending it back.

**Plant: Jump - Mandibug: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

At the end of the first path, past many enemies, lay a note. Starlow floated up to it.

“Hey, it looks like this is what we’re looking for! Though you do have to wonder why there even is a note all the way out here that explains how to open the door. Anyways, I’ll remember it for you. Let’s continue.”

As the party returned to the fork in the road, Shy Guy pointed out a ? block they hadn’t hit before. This one contained a Refined Plug, which BZZT took.

The other path contained a more platforming focused challenge. Stairs led up to a set of narrow platforms, branching off into two identical paths with ? blocks on each. Plant took the lead as BZZT struggled somewhat to keep up. At the branching path, Plant took one side while BZZT took the other.

On Plant’s side were three mushrooms. Upon striking the box, it carefully made its way forwards to where the paths met. On the other side was a Refreshing Herb. BZZT quickly made its way to where the other was standing shortly after receiving it.

A few more platforms later, they reached one more set of steps. With a few tight jumps, they reached the top to see a blue block floating in the air with a green shell icon and a note. Starlow read the note, then went up to the block.

“Hey, I think I’ve seen one of these! They’re called Special Blocks. Just hit it and watch what happens.”

Plant hopped up and touched the box. The block started expanding slightly, then burst open with confetti. Once it had all dispersed, there was nothing in its place. Not a moment later, however, a short cylindrical can dropped onto the ground in front of them, an inky substance flowing out of it.

“This right here is called a Special Attack. As you already know, they can deal more damage than standard attacks, but require more skillful action commands. They also need Special Points to use, and that means they can’t be used every turn. I’ll show how to use this when we find an enemy.”

Back at the gate, Starlow recited the notes and Plant followed accordingly. Once finished, a shock was given to the power cable and the door opened. Everyone gave a short cheer and they continued forwards.

Immediately after hopping up a ledge, two Chuzzes approached and readied for battle. Plant started to swing its head forwards, but was interrupted midway with the battle initiated neutrally.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**_*Bzzap!*_ **

**(Feed):** Chuzz A and B appear!

_*Starlow enters the area.*_

**Starlow:** I think now is the perfect time for me to explain special attacks. Let me show you how to use them.

_*All of Plant’s command blocks except the green shell one become greyed out.*_

**Starlow:** First, select Special Attacks.

_*Plant hits the aforementioned block. A menu prompt appears, showing the can they found earlier.*_

**Starlow:** Now select the attack. In this case, we only have Iron Shell, so select that.

_*Plant chooses it.*_

**Starlow:** Now choose the target.

**Plant: Iron Shell - Chuzz A**

_*Shy Guy digs out the oil can from earlier and tosses it on the ground in front of BZZT, smashing open and spilling. BZZT stands back a little and prepares to charge forwards as Shy Guy hops off the pot and stands next to it.*_

**Starlow:** This is where you can prepare for the attack. When you’re ready, press X.

_*BZZT dashes over the oil and falls over. It lands on its head and slides towards Chuzz A, bouncing off it. It then slides towards Plant and stops just before reaching.*_

**Starlow:** Now time for the action commands. Press X here for the first one.

_*Plant smacks it forwards, an Ok! appearing above them. BZZT bounces back off Chuzz A and approaches Shy Guy.*_

**Starlow:** Press Y now.

_*Shy Guy kicks it back to the enemy and it goes back to Plant.*_

**Starlow:** And X again. Keep the rhythm going!

_*A few kicks later, Shy Guy sends it bouncing back to the space in between himself and Plant. The two approach the area and prepare a collective smash.*_

**Starlow:** One last time!

_*The two send BZZT flying forwards towards Chuzz A. BZZT’s eyes change into X’s in doing so and it gets sent bouncing off the enemy and flying off. Shy Guy and Plant cheer as it returns.*_

**(Feed):** Chuzz A is defeated!

 **Starlow:** And there you have it! Remember that either of you can use special attacks, and that you need the required SP to be able to use them. Also, you can watch a short demo or practice them at any time, just check the Special Attack menu. Now go for it!

 **(Feed):** Chuzz B carves up a hammer and sends it towards Plant, which gets countered.

**BZZT: Iron Shell - Chuzz B: Great!**

**(Feed):** Chuzz B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

Plant leveled up after battle, and they continued forwards.

Immediately, they were greeted with a set of four large buttons in the ground. On each of them was a symbol of an explosion of some sort. Plant hopped onto one of them, but nothing happened. BZZT jumped up shortly after, causing the button to sink slightly and giving Plant an idea. It lurched BZZT into the air and hopped up with it, then slammed its pot down into the ground as it landed, activating the switch. The process was repeated on all the other switches, and a warp pipe appeared for them once done.

The party fought a few more enemies as they continued forwards, BZZT leveling up along the way. It chose to upgrade Spark again, getting a lucky 3 bonus points.

At the end of a long path, they found a save block and a block with a heart. Plant hit the heart one first, which sprinkled a sort of powder on the group, making them feel refreshed. After hitting the save block, it continued forwards to one last warp pipe.

Upon exiting the pipe, it sealed itself back in the floor, preventing their escape. They landed on a large wooden block with the picture of a beetle, seemingly nothing around. The group looked about to see what they were to do.

“I say, this is quite the puzzling predicament we are in right now,” Stuffwell commented.

Before any of them could do much, a Mandibug with a smaller one on its back appeared crawling up one of the block’s sides. On top of the infant bug was the rocket from earlier.

“Hey!” Starlow exclaimed as she saw it. “There’s our ticket out of here!”

“But you see where it is?” Huey said. “How are we supposed to get it safely?”

The bug screeched and struck forwards with its pincer a few times.

“We likely will need to take it out,” Stuffwell said. “It doesn’t look willing to give its possession up.”

Shy Guy didn’t like how things were sounding, so it hopped off Plant’s pot and attempted to sneak behind the bug. It didn’t quite notice, so when he was just behind it, he hopped onto the rocket and attempted to pull it off. The Mandibug duo screeched loudly and shook violently. Shy Guy attempted to hold on, but was soon thrown off.

BZZT came up behind it next, Shy Guy following close. BZZT hopped up to it and held on as tight as it could while Shy Guy ran around and shook his arms wildly. It was eventually thrown off as well, colliding directly with Shy Guy and sending them both back to the rest of the party.

“Yeah, it looks really protective about that,” Starlow commented. “Get ready for a fight!”

The large bug kicked up a little dust, then charged forwards at the party to battle.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!_ **

**_*Bzzap!*_ **

**(Feed):** Stink Bug Parent approaches!

 **(Feed):** Mandibug repeatedly bites forwards with its pincers, then sends Mandibug Infant down onto the ground. Infant attempts to charge forwards and bite BZZT, but is hit with a shock. Mandibug attempts to charge Plant, barely missing a prickly headbutt.

**Plant: Stink Bug Parent - Iron Shell: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Stink Bug Parent - Iron Shell: Great!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug backs up slightly, then sends Infant dashing towards Plant, slightly missing. Mandibug charges BZZT, getting hit with a counter in the process.

**Plant: Stink Bug Parent - Iron Shell: Great!**

**BZZT: Stink Bug Parent - Iron Shell: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug approaches Plant and crouches down. Infant flies above Plant and drops down, getting hit with a headbutt. Mandibug then jumps forwards and lands on Plant with all its might, hitting with a strong smash.

_*Plant stumbles a few times, then falls over. Shy Guy panics and runs away.*_

**BZZT: 1-Up Mushroom - Plant**

_*Plant gets back up and snaps at the air a few times. Shy Guy returns just as it grins, while BZZT hops up and down happily.*_

**(Feed):** Mandibug duo attempts a group bite attack. Mandibug misses Plant while Infant hits BZZT.

**Plant: Iron Shell - Stink Bug Parent: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug is defeated!

_ *Mandibug Infant hops down and begins to present its fury. Steam emerges, and it begins glowing red.* _

**BZZT: Iron Shell - Stink Bug Infant: Great!**

**(Feed):** Mandibug Infant flies and drops down on BZZT, hitting cleanly.

**Plant: Iron Shell - Stink Bug Infant: Excellent!**

_*Stink Bug Parent begins glowing brightly, then bursts into a large array of stars.*_

**(Feed):** Boss defeated! Victory!

* * *

Plant leveled up after the battle while BZZT narrowly missed the gain. After their poses, they returned to the field.

The Mandibug duo burst into stars and dropped the rocket it was carrying onto the floor. Everyone approached it.

“Hooray! We can finally go home!” Beep-0 cried.

“Yeah, that took long enough,” Starlow said. “Hopefully the kingdom is okay.”

“I wouldn’t suppose so,” Stuffwell said. “From what I have seen, it looks to be in grave danger, so let us make haste in returning.”

The entire group crammed inside the rocket and pressed a button inside. Moments later, the thruster on the bottom activated, sending them all flying off into space.

“How long are we gonna be like this for?”

“Not long, perhaps.”

“Good, ‘cause this place is reeeally stuffy. And I don’t want to be in here any longer than I have to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I wasn't originally planning on having another party member, but I felt like this wouldn't be Mario & Luigi enough unless there were two of 'em, so here they are.
> 
> also iron shell spam is literally like fighting any boss in the series after getting a bros attack


	5. Springtime Breeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party gets a little more information on the threat this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy first day of spring

A few footsteps were heard along a rocky path through a grassy meadow. Not long after, a lone Goomba appeared from behind a rock, heading towards a stream just a short ways down. Purple and black rocks lay along the edge of the road, sticking out against the naturally colored objects around, but it didn’t seem to mind.

Upon reaching its destination, it sat down at its edge and looked down. Fishes bounced out of the water a few times, splashing and having fun with each other. Birds chirped nearby and it was fairly quiet. Everything was just so... peaceful.

One Cheep Cheep, purple with a cork on its head, swam up the stream and scared off all the others. It flailed around a bit for its victory, then started inflating itself up a little. Once finished, it rested on top of the water lazily and closed its eyes. Not a moment later, it quickly opened them and stared right at the Goomba still sitting there. Giving off a startled look, the fish inflated itself up to even larger sizes. It expanded past the Goomba’s size, getting bigger and bigger until it started reddening and looking like it was about to pop. Only now did the Goomba see the imminent danger and start getting up and frantically trying to escape.

“INCOMING!”

The voice came from above, where a small shadow could be seen against the blinding sun. The mushroom-shaped creature forgot about what it was doing and just stared up into the sky. It almost looked like it was headed towards the ground. Closeby, even. Then the shadow began gaining color, showing a white cylindrical shape with a red tip pointed straight towards...

The rocket crash landed directly into the Goomba, turning it into a ring of stars. On collision, the rocket itself exploded, sending several small figures bursting out with a few regular sized ones. Despite all of this, the only real effect left on them was some soot on their faces.

Shy Guy was the first one up, who immediately shook Plant a few times. A few seconds of silence, then Plant quickly lurched its head a bit around, sending Shy Guy cowering and huddling up in a ball. After finishing, it looked towards him and approached him slowly. A few nuzzles was all it took to get him back onto the pot, and they started looking around for the others.

Conveniently, everyone else was placed within the immediate vicinity. Before the two were able to move very far, they started to get up and approach.

“We’re finally back!” Beep-0 cried as he came. “Uh, where are we?”

Stuffwell put away his radar and closed himself up. “We appear to be in Sunbeam Plains, if I am not mistaken. It is well known for its lush vegetation, bright—”

“Hey, what’s that?” Everyone turned to see Huey staring off at Peach’s Castle. A large, shadowy cloud rested just above it, periodically striking down a ray of lightning.

“That's bad,” Starlow said. “Really, really bad.” She stared off at it for a moment. “Something about that seems a little familiar to me, though, but I can’t remember what. Anyways, it’s probably best if we get going soon.”

The rest of the group agreed and Plant took the lead, BZZT following close behind. For the most part, the entire path forwards was completely empty, which seemed a little odd despite what was happening at the castle, but no one paid much mind.

Plant heard a small clang come from behind and turned around to see what happened. BZZT lay there on the floor, having appeared to trip over something blocked by its head. Plant approached to see what it was.

Just behind BZZT was a fairly large purple stone, a good bit bigger than all of the others laying around. It stuck out higher from the ground than any other and gave off a faint purple smoke. The others came over to see what the holdup was about.

“Hey, what’s going on over here?” Huey floated just above them and noticed the dark rock. “Wait, what’s that?”

No one said anything as they came to get a look for themselves.

“I dunno,” Beep-0 said, floating up to the crowd. “Probably best not to touch it.”

Dreambert gave it a closer look while the others debated over it. “If I could get everyone’s attention, please.” They quieted down. “Thank you. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence, but this stone looks to be somehow related to that large cloud above the castle. Look at its physical appearance, for one, and that gas coming from it as well.”

Stuffwell approached it without hesitation. “Perhaps it may be. For in case it may become useful in the future, I will hold onto it for the time being.” He opened himself up and let the rock float into him. After he closed himself off, he approached the rest of the party. “If there is nothing else of interest around, I would suggest we get moving soon. Back to adventure!”

Plant trotted forwards a short ways, then stopped at a seemingly impassable stream. It looked around on the other side for a moment, then decided to simply go around.

Behind a short hill was a spiked, dark purple creature with two large eyes and a gaping mouth. Upon hearing the sound of something approaching, it ducked low and prepared for an ambush.

The group approached a short platform only to stop as a Fuzzy bounced out from behind and hopped around wildly. Plant gave Shy Guy a weird look and hopped forwards when the jumping subsided. A flame was prepared, only to miss as it began hopping around again, missing its target with every bounce. After a short look around, Plant hopped in the air randomly and managed to land on top of it.

* * *

 **(Feed):** First strike: Jump!

 **(Feed):** Frizzy A and B appear!

 **(Feed):** Frizzy A lands on the ground and remains still. After a moment, it begins reddening and it hops forwards on the ground a few times towards Plant. A headbutt sends it back to its original position. Frizzy B hops into the foreground in front of BZZT and lays motionless in the air. After a moment, it slides towards it and Plant slowly, quickly being hopped over by both. When passing Plant, it bounces back and returns for another sweep, hitting its first target but getting countered by the second.

**Plant: Jump - Frizzy A: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Jump - Frizzy A: Ok!**

**(Feed):** Frizzy A performs a sweeping attack, getting countered by BZZT immediately. Frizzy B spins around a little, then duplicates itself.

 **(Feed):** Frizzy A is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Frizzy C joins the battle!

**Plant: Jump - Frizzy B: Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Frizzy B: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Frizzy B is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Frizzy C duplicates itself.

 **(Feed):** Frizzy D joins the battle!

**Plant: Jump - Frizzy C - Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Frizzy C is defeated!

**BZZT: Jump - Frizzy D - Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Frizzy D is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

 **(Drops):** HP Pep

* * *

BZZT leveled up after the fight, then they returned to what they were doing.

Up a few hills was a short gap over a grassy turf. Plant hopped down despite there being no way back up, and the others shortly followed without question as it was in the direction of the castle. A few more ledges later, they were met with a ? block containing a few coins. After collecting them, they continued onwards.

Another short stream lay ahead, this time with only a small platform and a ? block on the other side. Plant disregarded it for the time being and instead focused on all of the other items scattered about, which were quite plentiful. All were collected and it continued on, defeating a few foes in its path.

Almost immediately, the group reached the entrance to Toad Town. Despite what was happening at the castle, it seemed perfectly fine.

“Hey, that was pretty easy!” Starlow said, approaching the gate. “Just a short trip through here and we’re at the castle.”

Just then, a part of the large cloud split off and dropped towards the ground. When it was about level with the city walls, it hovered over towards the party and gained a pair of evil, red eyes.

“Spoke too soon, didn’t I?”

It made a loud, screeching sound, then dropped down a piece of itself that started forming into something. Before it could finish any sort of familiar shape, it rushed forward at the group, catching them off guard.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**_*Bzzap!*_ **

**(Feed):** Stonk appears!

 **(Feed):** Stonk extends its appendages out and spins them around in a cyclone. A moment later, a small tornado is formed, which spins something red around rapidly inside. Beneath it comes something blue, both of which are then sent flying a short distance into the air as the tornado collapses. A red ball of gas gets smacked away by Plant, but a blue one collides directly with BZZT before it can do anything.

 **(Feed):** BZZT is poisoned!

**Plant: Jump - Stonk: Critical Excellent!**

**BZZT: Iron Shell - Stonk: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Stonk poofs into four smaller clouds, which start circling its original position. All but one lose their eyes, and they then pile up on top of each other and approach Plant. The stack wobbles a little before reaching, then falls over towards its target, sending the clouds bouncing forwards one by one. The first two disperse into smoke before hitting, but the third one hits cleanly. The cloud bounces back to its spot and takes its normal form again.

**Plant: Jump - Stonk: Critical Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Stonk: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Stonk is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

* * *

The purple cloud exploded into a short array of stars, leaving the group looking back up towards the dark cloud still standing there. It gave off another screech, but didn’t move otherwise.

“Should we be doing something right now?” Huey questioned.

He wasn’t able to receive an answer before the cloud formed a lance out of its body and thrust it forwards, sending all but Stuffwell flying off into the distance. He wasn’t the least bit frightened by what had happened and instead stood looking up at the enemy.

“I assume that is my cue to leave, then.” He started to walk off, only to get struck with the lance as well, sending him flying towards the others. The cloud screeched once more, then floated towards the town to cause some havoc.

* * *

BZZT opened its eyes slowly, then closed them. It felt its eyes slowly powering off, but fought to keep its power supply up and running. Laying on the ground, it gave off a few beeps, then gave up trying to do anything. Perhaps it could just wait until its energy returned to get going again.

Something patted along a grassy floor, but it still didn’t open its eyes. It was tapped on the side softly a few times, then left alone. Only a few seconds of tranquility came next, then it was jerked onto its feet quickly, getting its eyes open in an instant. Before being able to see who it was, it tripped onto the floor and flailed around helplessly. This time, it was slowly pushed back upright, and it looked forward to see Shy Guy standing just before it. He made some undistinguishable noises, then walked behind it where Plant stood.

Plant stared at BZZT for a short while, not doing anything. It then motioned for BZZT to follow, and the two continued onwards once again.

They seemed to be going on for a while without anything happening, so BZZT decided to have a look around. They were in an autumn grassland, stretching all the way to the thick trees far in front of them and the edge of a lake. A few large rocks were placed around, as well as large, yellow flowers. Some large seeds lay around on the ground, for whatever reason, mostly next to the flowers.

Plant quickly turned into an area completely surrounded by rocks, preventing any more sightseeing. BZZT hastily followed to see what looked to be the rest of the party within its containment, looking around but not leaving.

Starlow was the first to spot them. “Hey! There you guys are!” She floated up to them, the others following close behind. “Looks like this journey isn’t going to be as easy as we thought it would. Especially considering that cloud thing you just fought.” She looked towards where they had just been. The entirety of Toad Town had been added to the swarm of dark clouds forming in the sky.

“...yeah, this definitely won’t be easy. At the very least, we’re all back together again, but how are we even supposed to deal with this?”

“I am sure we will figure out in time,” Stuffwell answered. “Perhaps if we get close to the source of all this trouble, I could take an analysis of it to figure out its main weakness. This could then be exploited in our favor to put an end to all this nonsense.”

“Sounds like a plan, but how do we even get near the castle?” Beep-0 asked. “The place doesn’t exactly look easy to enter, let alone approach. Just take a look at what’s going on over there!”

Everyone who hadn’t already looked over to see what was new. Along with the lightning strikes, groups of creatures rained down from the sky, dropping down on the surrounding area. Small bits of the cloud broke off and floated onto the ground in the masses. A few of them were headed in their general direction.

“So... we’re still going over there, right?” Huey asked.

“Only thing we can do,” Starlow answered. “Come on, let’s not waste any more time here and get going.”

The group briefly looked towards the cloud of smoke, then continued their journey through the plains.

“Hey, uh, you there.” Beep-0 went up to Stuffwell. “Suitcase guy, I forgot your name.”

“Stuffwell, and what may I help you with?”

“Can you tell us where we are right now? I’m fairly unfamiliar with the kingdom.”

He opened himself up for a moment, revealing his radar, then almost immediately closed up again.

“We are currently located in Bumpsy Plains. It is fairly small compared to surrounding locations such as Dimble Wood, for say. To the west some ways is Blubble Lake. There is still no official border between these two locations, as geographers have been debating over it for a long time. Bumpsy Plains isn’t well known by any means, but it remains a popular gardening site for many.”

Beep-0 stared at him for a minute. “Oh, thanks for the detailed response, but could you keep it brief next time?”

“I will try my best to remember.”

Plant took the lead past several motionless flowers, not even affected by the wind at all. The front of a few of them had a metal tube sticking out, for whatever reason, as well as two eye holes above them. Plant simply looked at some of them and moved on.

A short distance behind the group was one of the many seeds laying on the ground, except this one was slightly purple in tone and had feet and a face. Along the way, it converted other seeds into dark ones like itself that followed along with it. Eventually, it had a large group accumulated, so the lead one stopped them all in place and gave them an order. They all scattered in groups of three and planted themselves in the ground, making such a ruckus that the party quickly noticed their scheme.

“What are they doing?” Kertsi asked rhetorically.

The last of the bunch sowed themselves in the ground, yet nothing happened. Plant turned around and decided to just continue onwards, but then heard a collective sprout from behind and turned around.

A large swarm of the flowers from earlier—now with dark colored petals and three heads instead of one—had appeared in place of all the seeds. Plant prepared to fight, but they instead burrowed into the ground and disappeared. It kept the fighting stance up for a short while longer, then realized there was no threat for the time being and lowered its guard.

“What just happened?” Starlow questioned.

“It would appear that the surrounding area has become more dangerous to traverse,” Stuffwell answered. Everyone waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“So... I guess let’s just get going again, just prepare to fight some stuff.”

Plant snapped forwards a few times, then started walking forwards. BZZT gave the others a somewhat strange look, then followed.

Not a few steps forwards and one of the flowers appeared just in front of them, blocking their path. Plant approached and narrowly dodged a dark seed shot out at it, then swung its head for a fight.

* * *

 **(Feed):** First strike: Prickly Swing!

 **(Feed):** Flifitrio and Dark Sneed appear!

 **(Feed):** Dark Sneed walks a short ways towards BZZT and fires a shot forwards, missing from a jump. It then walks forwards a few steps and fires another missed shot. A few more steps forwards and it is directly in front of BZZT, still dodging the shot. Dark Sneed takes another step forwards and collides directly with its target, then returns to its spot.

**Plant: Jump - Dark Sneed: Critical Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Dark Sneed: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Dark Sneed is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Flifitrio begins to spin its heads around rapidly, creating a gust of wind. A few red and blue rocks are sent forwards, aimed towards Plant and BZZT respectively. A short while later, it stops, leaving Plant the only one damaged, and only once.

**Plant: Jump - Flifitrio: Critical Excellent!**

**BZZT: Jump - Flifitrio: Great!**

**(Feed):** Flifitrio charges up a shot with all three of its heads, only for one of them to sputter out and sag. The other two get startled and send a mid-sized iron ball rolling along the ground towards Plant, getting dodged.

**Plant: Jump - Flifitrio: Critical Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Flifitrio: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Flifitrio is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

 **(Drops):** Refreshing Herb

* * *

Plant leveled up after the battle with BZZT very close to doing the same. After finishing their celebration, they returned to the field.

Several more dark flowers lay in their path, letting them both stay at the same level for the time being. Plant wandered around in circles for a little while, grabbing any loot along the way, until it realized what it was doing and took an alternate path.

Plant already noticed the entrance to the woods nearby, and approached it suspiciously. After attempting to bait out some unknown force a few times, it just gave up and headed forwards. Unfortunately, it happened to be that it stopped at just the wrong time.

Something bubbled from under the water, which no one would have minded if it hadn’t sent a large wave that drenched a few of them. Plant, Shy Guy, and BZZT were some of the lucky few who avoided it, and they approached the water’s edge to see what was lurking beneath the surface. More bubbles appeared, then ripples, steadily increasing in intensity.

A few drops emerged from the water, then followed another large wave. Beep-0 was the only one drenched this time, but he didn’t seem to care. As the top of the waterfall dropped down, they squinted past the rainbow and sun to see what had caused it. Huey and Kertsi were immersed in the view, but they eventually snapped out of their trance when the colors subsided.

In the place of the all the fluid was a large, mechanical shark with red boxing gloves on its fins, floating just above the water. Stuffwell immediately opened himself up for the radar as Beep-0 showed an angry expression.

“What’s the deal with this guy?” he asked. “If it’s looking for a fight, we can give ‘em a fight!” He bounced around a few times, then looked backwards somewhat awkwardly. “Uh, we _can_ fight this guy, right?”

“I dunno.” Starlow went up to the water’s edge. “They look pretty tough. Should we be careful?”

“Absolutely.” Stuffwell closed himself up and approached the group. “My analysis of this foe is complete. The complete explanation is long, but for the sake of time I’ll keep it brief. Yes, we should keep up our top guard and prepare for whatever it has to throw at us.”

The shark made a robotic screech, startling all of them. Before anyone else could get a word out, it bit forwards towards Plant, who returned the gesture. Shy Guy and BZZT did their best to huddle behind the pot to let Plant do all the work, but had little success in doing so.

* * *

**_*Snap snap! CHOMP!*_ **

**_*Bzzap!*_ **

**(Feed):** Tibutron approaches!

 **(Feed):** Tibutron’s eyes change to pure red, then it makes a few mechanical screeches. It spins around in the air a few times, then lands on the ground and rolls out of view. A few moments later, it appears in front of Plant, smashing directly into it. It then appears in front of BZZT, who manages to shock it just in time to dodge the attack. After a few more countered approaches, it stops spinning and returns to its spot in the air.

**Plant: Jump - Tibutron: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Green Shell - Tibutron**

**(Feed):** Tibutron lands on the ground, then hops high into the air, head sparking. It reappears not too high above the three, aiming towards BZZT. Before landing, it sparks out and changes its eyes to pure blue with several white lines, then bounces right in front of BZZT and lands directly on top of Plant.

**Plant: Jump - Tibutron: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Jump - Tibutron: Great!**

**(Feed):** Tibutron charges towards the party in a ball, only hitting BZZT once and getting countered every other time.

**Plant: Jump - Tibutron: Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Tibutron: Great!**

**(Feed):** Tibutron hops into the air and plummets down towards Plant. Plant narrowly misses a headbutt and gets crashed into.

 **(Feed):** Plant is KO’ed!

**BZZT: 1-Up Mushroom: Plant**

**(Feed):** Tibutron charges up, then slams both its fists into the ground, sending a few shockwaves forwards. BZZT is struck twice, but otherwise they are unscathed.

**Plant: Jump - Tibutron: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Jump - Tibutron: Ok!**

**(Feed):** Tibutron’s eyes flash red a few times, then suddenly flash blue once and stop. A moment later, several lasers are shot towards Plant, hitting only on the first. After a few, a single laser is sent towards BZZT, catching it off guard.

_*BZZT looks towards the floor and gains inward facing greater-than-signs for eyes.*_

**Plant: Jump - Tibutron: Great!**

**BZZT: Jump - Tibutron: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Tibutron uses a rolling attack, cleanly getting countered on every loop back around.

_*Tibutron, pauses in place for a bit, then bursts into a massive array of stars. Once finished, it leaves a nothingness in its place.*_

**(Feed):** Boss defeated! Victory!

* * *

Both of the surviving contenders leveled up after the gruesome fight. They were both ready to return back to adventuring, but then Starlow came up to Plant and floated above it for a little. She spun around once, then dropped down an orange background behind it for something. The experience meter was replaced by a set of circles, all empty except for the first one, which showed a picture of a Mushroom. A moment later, the second circle sparkled, revealing a Fire Flower in its place.

“Congratulations!” Starlow said. “You ranked up! Along with the regular bonuses you get for leveling up, you’ll also receive a permanent perk as well! Just know that once you choose, you can’t change it, so choose wisely!”

Plant studied its options carefully, then made its choice. Upon finishing, Starlow repeated the procedure with BZZT, who happened to double down on its rank up bonus. The three simultaneously made a victory pose and they returned back to their journey.

Tibutron burst into stars, leaving the party safe for at least a moment, as long as nothing else arrived. A few tensed up in case something else came to ambush them, but there was nothing.

“Phew!” Starlow approached the victors. “That must have been quite the battle. Or was it easy? I don’t know, you tell me.”

“That’s likely the least of our worries at the moment,” Stuffwell said. “We are now able to proceed into the forest to continue our journey. Shall we move forwards?”

“Yeah, sure.” Starlow floated towards the entry. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

BZZT watched as the rest entered the woods. Beep-0 started to follow, then noticed it standing there. He floated up to its side.

“Something wrong?” No response. “Uh, can we at least get going for now? Let’s not hold the others up.” BZZT finally looked over to him and stared for a moment, then nodded.

“Great.” He went forwards a short ways, then looked back to see if it was following. “Come on!”

BZZT took a look behind itself, then ran to catch up. Something was definitely up, but even it couldn’t tell what. It always had the time to think about it though, in that complex brain of its. When it finished, it could possibly tell the others, even. But that was if its hunch even was true, in the end.


	6. Hit 'Em Hard!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A walk through the bubbly woods.

Dark and dangerous, then

If constricted to all a whimper to describe whatever dampness they’d soaked into, there was no other explanation. Though, hardly, it seemed much half of one so much _needed_ it, despite however many combinations kept chiming and reachieving—and that was the best thing. So much a word in his way and he’d be seared, scorching back behind the sole safeguard seen since adorning the pot and its dweller; still, bounding forward, him, it, and the planetoid of partners, shivered behind their trek along. Still, feasting on fungus, they scuttled somewhere. Still... that horrible deed, spars and the sole stint from his any involvement... they adventured forward.

Through the spatterings of shadows, a joyous giggle shared somewhere—for what, even? For what was it to delve so deep into the unknown, to venture wherever into the forest of only delusion? On most others’ behalf, it was no more than simple; whatever threatened before any corner, whatever sparked, verging a sheer gaze of steel by elapses alone, a sinister splaying of teeth just loomed right back. In sole, it was fearlessness radiating off every dweller bar one. It was stares, so sheer paled, scattered around the torn battlegrounds and sputters of stars, it was great gusts of meaningless conflict, awaiting them behind every rock and strand of grass.

Yet somehow, he stood the only among his desolate corner, scrunched by the sound of cold alone.

He hardly held much competition to speak, even in that shortest, stubbiest helmet of their bunch. Silent, unthreatening, even pleasant—BZZT was a shrouded treasure, doubtlessly, for what whatnot even he couldn’t understand. Scuttling through its own sporadically stumbly trail behind him, they only traveled through the green light, past the lush and lifeless world of the deep trees; it just kept with a robotic eye behind the face of a pot and plantlife beneath. Somehow, it was like the best nurturing heat sticking beside its pallor of frigid plating, something like the greatest dizzying getting to stick right beside its cold helmet, unhinged plug and all, and sigh into some odd madness.

But they hardly needed worry any for the face of possible doom, looming before a single look past the potted plant. With just a spotted head in tow, an unfazed to soon enraged face of all uncertainty to guard them and their countless party both, he only needed mind for the single treat of the hour. A great, peaceful glade, maybe, as stung right into all their minds simultaneously—and as soon departed from without a hint of loot to explore. A mere break, perhaps, if to neglect the sudden scratch of sound from the exact plant everyone could’ve expected. Surely, with all the blocks, the battles, the dancing before minds so distraught by the terror of their trio, a nap would’ve proven the finest thing.

Just... simple, like the only dwellers of the shadowlit patch of soil. Easy, imminent, swelling by sight, even—he could just close all up and envision it, for once. Just to lay some disregard, one time at all, he could see some fine, foeless place relaxing before them all.

Picture it so simply, before the waking dozers from the shadows. As for their flowery faces, purple-petaled heads, and stubby feet, their influence could be told doubtless—their correlation left to a hope only.

One more moment, he could mumble perfectly, steady as he could envision in such a stupor.

One more moment... he could only bunch up, bracing for the pot’s droning thud over one who unfortunately happened to be deemed an enemy.

* * *

**(Feed):** First strike: Jump!

 **(Feed):** Popper A, B, and Werfer appear!

 **(Feed):** Popper A bounds forward, taking its stand just before the center of the field. With a twirl, a flutter of the breeze, it carries its spin through leaps around the battlefield, minding the space around, a slight tendency toward BZZT, before halting at its original position. Its petals whirling around its face, a fizzy, purple glob of poison is emitted from its bud, oozing across the floor toward BZZT—guarding. Popper B repeats, misses Plant.

**Plant: Jump - Popper A: Ok!**

_*BZZT trembles, then takes a jittery glance behind, eyes verging seals. After a brief look toward Plant, it returns to its usual bobbing.*_

**BZZT: Electrify - Popper A: Excellent!**

_*Popper A’s shrouds itself behind a puff of smoke upon BZZT taking its usual stand, revealed to open air with green petals and a flat smirk instead of its prior blankness.*_

_*Plant gazes several times between the enemy side and BZZT.*_

**(Feed):** Popper A spins to the center of the field, twirling past, nigh around its foes’ side. Upon a step forward the gap between Plant and BZZT, it suddenly stops, bursts between the two, lifts its face to the sky, and squirts a stream of horizontal, bubbling green goop toward both simultaneously. Both stand for the hit. Popper B twirls in place several times before striking a saggy stare, raising DEF for itself and its allies.

**Plant: Jump - Popper A: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Popper A is defeated!

 **(Feed):** Werfer thumps forward until lateral with Popper B, then puffs, continues. BZZT hops several times, holds a guard—Werfer pants, again, its eyes drooping down its face, takes another step, then stumbles, collapses forward, sending a shockwave to Plant and a craggy dirt-clump toward BZZT. Plant dodges; BZZT guards. Werfer heaves itself back to its position and seats itself, again, a waffle imprint of its face over the dirt.

**BZZT: Electrify: Popper B: Great!**

_*Popper B dons a smirk and pale green petals upon a gaseous sputter.*_

**(Feed):** Popper B bounds forward, back, in a step’s distance several times, until standing back in its position with a starry pose, striking itself and its ally with increased POW.

**Plant: Jump - Popper B: Excellent!**

**BZZT: Electrify - Popper B: Fail**

_*Popper B sputters a cloud of blue smoke, returning to view with gloomy blue, sagging petals, and a weary eye.*_

**(Feed):** Werfer scrunches its face, hefts itself to its feet, and tramps to the direct ahead of Popper B, at which it thumps back to the floor, seated.

_*Plant stares at its command selection and the enemies some seconds while BZZT jitters.*_

**Plant: Jump - Werfer: Great! (Weak)**

**BZZT: Electrify - Werfer: Excellent!**

_*Werfer teeters above and forward Popper B, nigh losing balance several times until gravity takes its play, readjusting it to stiffness.*_

**(Feed):** Popper B sidesteps back and forth laterally, then droops its head to the floor alongside its petals, raising SPD for it and its ally.

_*BZZT shakes, turning to Plant under a jittery guise. Plant suddenly stops under its Jump Command Block, stares the motioning of BZZT’s helmet, then refaces forward, indifferent.*_

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Werfer: Excellent!**

_*Werfer teeters, seesawing from backward to forward several times until leaning far farther to front, then back. With a distressed eye, it collapses to its rear, smashing Popper B into stars as Werfer burrows a faint distance into the ground, flat, helpless.*_

**(Feed):** Popper B is defeated!

_*BZZT shivers, then drops a shaky eye to forward.*_

**BZZT: Jump - Werfer: Excellent! (Critical!)**

**(Feed):** Werfer is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

 **(Drops):** Hardy Pod

* * *

A starlit explosion paled the faces of them all. Steps flew, Starlow hovered beside an unusually stagnant Plant, and finally, he glimpsed back—there was an expected stumbler. It twisted, turning in place, only for the imminent approach, a droning hum of silence brought by the pot and its plant’s mere presence, some drop of its sole dweller, then an unrivaled headbutt. BZZT flew to correct balance all a moment until finding its face in the floor instead of the skies, helpless as whenever, though it was left to fend imbalance only alongside some equally distressed mumble in the shallow light.

An exhausting trek forward, he latched his hand scantly enough to the springy pot for much a vague sense of stability, himself. With a tiring mumble, scrambling a hand all around the dirt and its stem, he just slid down and collapsed. BZZT stared him, some flat face beside, but he couldn’t tell much in the seconds leading silence before departing footsteps.

He struggled, soon exploded upward with all the last energy he was willing with. A deep, dark gaze scuttled as soon—the only other loomer just stiff—and with a trembly eye to second him, they refaced the parting rear of all the familiar forms. He looked back, shivery stripes in the place where sole plantlife once stood, then up. For how close and paper-thin the bobber was, he simply forgot the meaning of distraction and scurried back.

Some countless spans of futile reaches and failed pull-ups to the pot succeeding, he just scrunched with his defeat. Stepping, slowly, a beat, a shallow whine of himself, he buried his face among his hands and muttered forward. He had a watcher, doubtless, somewhere from the stars, the far brush, or just the trail a couple steps away, but for all he minded, he just ignored the first sound of sparks.

“You’re not sticking with your plant-buddy?”

A footing skipped a step, almost steadiness entirely, but he just muttered something and peeked upward—where a same cutout still dawned its shadow. With all a jittery walk, a distant conversation to second his glance with, he couldn’t turn away.

A misstep too strayed, and he suddenly twitched, shook his head. Huey vaguely fluttered from the scant air.

“Too much to handle? I couldn’t blame you.”

He rose an arm in some vague direction toward the wooded canopy, only to instantly find the breath of frost and withdraw from the turbulence above his head. Along the waddle of the trees, the famished air of bushes beyond, he only bothered with some readjustment of his mask even he wasn’t the slightest deal sure the point of. To a plop, to a slap, he dropped his hands, stumbled alongside a tandem gaze, and sighed past the scurry of some dangerous face of the new glade.

Bright bays, scattered stars, their whole group hovered from ahead. Mixed colors, drawing acquaintanceships, and whatnot faces mirrored, he could only see the shallow plantlife before them all, flooring by the sole ones to trample their territory.

“I mean... I’ve seen plenty of plant-folk in my days—and I can’t deny that they’re all so...”

He rubbed his head, closely eyeing the flat shadow emerging over the ground every bump from seconds the shade allowed it.

“Vicious, they all are. Couldn’t someone have just, y’know, _not_ grown them to have those huge heads, those huge, pointy teeth? There’s enough wrong around already, and I’m betting some plants like piranhas weren’t necessary for anyone’s day.”

The very sheet of life above crinkled, softly, yet audibly.

“And I’ve seen my share of ones that can walk, too, and maybe also carry some spiny-things over them—but this?”

For a whole split of the second, he could truly see the vague colors of a handle and pale eyes. The trees rustled, the few fruits still aloft stirred with their deep, fossilized mushiness no matter which perspective or angle taken on them—the wings of voices echoed from beyond and back. Almost, he could see the perfect rock face to bump his head into any moment, but his alertness said nothing, crying from the side of his subconscious in memory exclusively.

With another bleak eye, he just stuffed his hands back to his sides and stared the only vibrant green around. A step into a faint pit, a misplant into the afflicted puddles bar a whole helmet of margin, the trio kept their focus.

“What even happened?” Huey said, nigh a murmur. “These plants are capable of things I’d bet no one’s ever even considered, but this one? Just... how? I’m getting no answers here, or from anyone, it looks like, but what kind of thing is this?—to just hop into that pot, rope itself around mobility and precision, just like that, and jump around like it’s nothing?”

Plant snarled at someone. By the glance of the spotless pallor alone he shivered, soon beside a less discreet clacking of plug and cable, but Huey just gawked as a flat rock.

“I’m not complaining, really. Those teeth look pretty useful in smashing past anything in our way. But still, I could never understand how all those quirks and whatnot came to be—and also happen to find their way into that sort of pot.”

Huey shuddered from somewhere. He smooshed his mask the slightest tighter, felt its strap around, and nearly stumbled into BZZT. As much thankful as he was in the moment of certainty, he could only promise to leave his attire set as was for any venturing onward.

All, everyone, their faces dripped toward the spotted moon, the ferocious, docile line, staring Starlow with an odd expressionlessness. They just saw mind and shooed it; they stopped, they sat without an eye to anywhere. Standing as the sole before a supercluster of loomers, droopers, and standers alike, it sparkled among the crowd, it shone its dull face of nothing to some far spar of the universe, lurched its head—and they all could’ve gasped.

It was only something almost like an oozing golf ball eyeing it back, but already, Plant was crumpling its leaves. Still, they traced the action—beyond the ever-increasing numbers of eyes summoning silences toward the duo out of line—yet somehow, they just couldn’t get it.

“Guys?” Huey almost stuttered, an eye for once fazed.

He jumped, rubbed his mask, and almost fell back. BZZT was already sitting with its attention in the right place, but it didn’t look much prepared for anything without his own support.

“You’re up.”

However imminent their scurry may have screamed them, how much only their stubby feet could scramble toward the snapping commotion as, Plant was nothing ever satisfied for the help.

* * *

**(Feed):** First strike: Jump!

 **(Feed):** Rola and Gramball appear!

_*Gramball struggles its suction cup-esque feet up, against the ground, several times. After another second of yanking itself, it droops its eyes.*_

**Plant: Jump - Rola: Miss!**

_*Rola oozes magenta goop from itself upon Plant’s aerial approach, searing steam momentarily. Plant immediately lurches into the air upon impact, its pot cracked as it continues bounding back until beside Shy Guy. Shaking its head, it restores its ready with an outstretched snap.*_

**(Feed):** Rola scrunches itself, drops its gaze slightly toward the sky, then rolls back, far behind the battlefield. After seconds, a goopy bubbling sounds from distance, pale, fizzling droplets bombarding the grass from its far trail—of purple scantly deeper than its own, predominantly, then a final, red droplet between Plant and BZZT. Within another moment, Rola explodes from its exit point, rolling a direct trail toward Plant, only to get smashed by a huge headbutt. Rola flies back to its side, bowling into Gramball’s head before taking its space, its bubbling trail dissipating upon its idling.

**BZZT: Electrify - Rola: Excellent!**

**(Feed):** Gramball lifts its suction-cupped foot from the floor and takes a single step forward—flipping its entire leg over itself. It blinks, popping a faint grin, then crouches its head until nigh against the floor. With a great explosion from its legs, it soars across the air, somersaulting until landing perfectly over Plant, where it lowers its head at a steady speed. Plant submits to the hit of the head above. Gramball flips back to its station.

**Plant: Gramball - Jump: Excellent! (Critical!)**

_*Plant grins upon its landing, BZZT in watch with vague disorientation over its eyes.*_

**BZZT: Gramball - Jump: Excellent!**

_*Gramball pulses electricity even beyond BZZT’s retreat, left static, giddy in its standing position.*_

**(Feed):** Gramball is jolted!

 **(Feed):** Rola twitches, rolls beneath Gramball’s head and legs. A bubbling patch is left in its former position.

**Plant: Jump - Gramball: Excellent! (Critical!)**

_*A daze in its face, Gramball’s head detaches from its vine-legs, collapses into Rola, then bursts into stars alongside the rest of its body.*_

**(Feed):** Gramball is defeated!

_*Rola dons a widened gaze, then rolls back to its prior position.*_

**(Feed):** Rola hops, stomps twice over its goopy patch, raining droplets in a miniscule distance around itself. With a beam to the sky, a pale cloud forms above its head, absorbing all droplets from the floor to cumulate precipitation. Rola bounds with glee at the vibrant rain, absorbing a decent chunk of its lost health.

**Plant: Prickly Swing - Rola: Excellent!**

_*Rola is smashed far beyond the battlefield—seconds following a crash and a trampling of rocks.*_

**(Feed):** Rola is defeated!

 **(Feed):** All enemies downed! Victory!

 **(Drops):** Densy Pod

* * *

The cliffs and malnourished crags loomed even beyond the forest canopy—the damp petals reigning as a stellar drizzle. Every so often, when it seemed another groan would impede of Kersti or some other’s freezing aura, a leaf of no particular always decided its best course of action, drooping, dripping down, somewhere from the height of the neverending branches and thicket lining the above, all the way below by the brush, the mere glances of a few, and nudged cozy among the prongs of BZZT’s plug.

By the fourth time, maybe, he felt about ready to just sigh, find his hands back to his untainted soil, and drown into his own subconscious. However much they dampened gaze, the deep lavenders eyeing them from careless drools to the world, none dared any consequent action beyond a face and a slight, steady rear. Once, twice, he couldn’t help but give an eye, himself, but soon, he just minded the rock fossil’s encounter of the past and lurked back among his imaginary cavern.

And as much as the stars of green succumbed to some cosmic cog’s workings of darkness, he couldn’t tell a single one that cared; barely one that even noticed existed from the frail depths of Plant’s direct trail. To his closest, Huey hovered his own—in his own ahead Kersti hardly differed. Looking beyond, to the colors of a star, a stuffed scar of endless faces, his head just hurt.

Somewhere, they approached. Somewhere, their adventure forward must’ve belittled their points of conflict. In such a mind of whatever haystack he’d been pummeled into, it was one thing he was certain of. Up, first before a clanking of ceramic against planks, the faces of bubbles and fizzly fluid, a stagnant rapid just goggled off from beneath the ruins of boards too moldy and worn to keep them all standing. Still, under as much nondiffidence from the park trail—bare, bold with plantlife, then back to blank again—he almost just wished it was a boulder he could’ve stopped against.

Only with the second check did he find some evidence of company above the endless spills around. His glimpse littered with the soggy, sporadic chorus—in just a lost goggle, he nearly collapsed with the sight of everyone. He instantly felt a hand to his head, mumbled something, and stumbled.

“What’s with the holdup?”

With a whole whirlpool of stares before him, Beep-0 just whimpered something, toyed with a squint, and reared more sluggishly than he’d ever shown.

For all a moment he almost held the same question sincere, though with even Plant onboard to the simultaneous expedition of eyes, he couldn’t feign indifference. Cold, he certainly was, and surely pricked by mere gaze; somehow it seemed like he could reach in between the crackling spokes, the sole shield of its beyond’s inky wooded canopy, and rub the thatched overgrowth until all anyone cared.

“Who here can light some sparks?”

Huey let all a stare to the supercluster of wherever someone had spoken. With a sliver of motion aboard, a jittery eye to second himself, he forwarded his face to the disordered onlookers.

“Just—”

“Could we not just go _over_ this blockade?”

“And how do you propose we do that, Sir Botto?” Starlow immediately retorted in such a distinct touch of annoyance the sole other hum just faded.

“We were there just twenty enemies ago, if you’re not—” Beep-0 suddenly flinched from his callous drive toward nowhere, facing Plant and the looming wall of bramble to its beyond. “Hey! Give those leaves a little spin, won’t you?”

“That’s no way to repay its valiant efforts in carrying us to this point,” Kersti said from her own corner of unaccompanied void.

Everyone stared her for all a moment, eyes of much varying life, distress, and attention, until one face broke back, and all resurfaced in tandem.

Their conversing fell to something like puzzling planks and helicopters while he nearly tumbled into himself. With only a mild mumble to sign his presence—not one hardly acknowledging his first step with so much a glimpse—he grappled the rim of a pot, lifted a foot to and around the globe of balance, and bumbled somewhere where he couldn’t see shadows, somehow. BZZT surely minded him, but at very least it seemed its idealized hour was one of silence, as well.

“Pots?”

“ _Pots_ ,” Beep-0 continued, earning all another ring of listlessness. “Stuffy! Let us see what you got!”

Stuffwell popped from Plant’s soil, whirling beyond gravity until his inalterable beam shone. Through his sluggish cycling toward the stiffness of his summoner, his face kept intact—none dared drip an eye even to the mildest spoke of grass.

“It is to my understanding there is no exact definition of your implied desire.”

Beep-0 immediately halted his bobbing, then sagged.

“Do as you wish,” he continued, unfurling himself to pockets and otherwise progress, it seemed in some’s eyes.

Their droplets remained, fixed; their absentmindedness lay as much simultaneously unrivaled. By pokes, first approach for his peek, the only motion resided in some misstep—by faint hums and incoherent mutters, he almost too lost where his own foot was supposed to go. For steps, seconds, far splashes, they lost themselves while time ticked over them, the very nature of indifference left only in a spotted eyeball.

In the final assortment of the play, he barely recalled Beep-0 had a form beyond ears at all.

“Someone here have any hands to lend? Literally, I mean—I really can’t do anything in here.”

“Allow me to assist,” Stuffwell said, furling some of his pockets to his floor.

“But you just said you didn’t—”

“Alright!” Starlow burst from the highest skies any looked willing to go—maybe a good arm’s reach above himself. “Guys, guys! I get we’re all taking our part in trying to help, but please, let me speak a word, first.”

Stuffwell shut himself and stood, much to a drooping beep’s dismay.

“I just want to reiterate this a moment—yes, we’re finding a way through here.”

“What’s through there, though?” Huey said, approaching to the central patch where only Plant stood.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” She stared, hovered back, nearer the face of obstruction to give all a stare to the crackling vineface. “But we’ve seen enough already to know what’s going on here, haven’t we? Danger equals progression, and progression is what we’re after.”

“Yeah... what were we even trying to do, anyway?”

Starlow brought a sudden shiver, then stuttered. “The castle?”

He hummed, returned to his path into the cosmos through an accompanied stare. The wind breezed by, a few more words of inquiry were uttered, and at last, the place of paper brushed against itself. There was hardly a mumble to respond.

With some bleep straying listlessness and sorrow concurrently, Beep-0 lifted himself from the crowd a second time, right past Starlow, past a few stares and an equal sigh, and into the depths of the lateral glade. BZZT tripped over a pebble and soon skittered, parallely, though for all he noticed there was just a lobbed blob without a wave—gazing somewhere between his hand and his only acquaintance.

“Pardon the interruption,” Dreambert said, edging into the arena, “but there _have_ been instances where we’ve witnessed this plant’s mobile capabilities, no?”

“And that’s not enough to get over that hunk of vine, is it?” Huey instantly burst from the side. “I’m no acrobat, but there’s no way those leaves are making it anywhere _near_ the top of that wall.”

Plant just stared the two, then skipped toward Huey for all half a second before someone shook.

“Hey!” he cried from Plant’s above. “Keep your grimy little... leaves away from me!”

It just lifted its head to the sky, spun its stem to a lifeless mask, a starlit expressionlessness, and countless uneases, then thrashed its head back to the cloud among limitless escape paths. Some two of the far land—somewhere just before the sputtering vineface and its relentless reign of electricity itself—glimpsed each other, but even from his limpness, verging a position among the issue should he take a single step anywhere, he knew the imminent disaster as well as anyone.

A squish, a curl, Huey took the whole moment he still thrived among sunlight to rear the slightest more—then it all fell to ice by will of a high beep and weightless clank. They shifted instantly, despite the lurking distress from above, but where to, he had to leave for a moment to recommend while the others whispered amongst the bubbling behind.

“Perfect timing, why don’t you!”

Huey faced the verge of a squint and a yet unbalanced distress—the focal point as good as any generalization for their party’s collective expression. After moments, he sagged; seconds, he backed, leaving his face to their prior path only after setting himself on the next emptiest patch over the glade.

BZZT stepped into the ring of loomers, all any offers of trading eye disregarded without even a stray of its helmet. A few cleared upon first sight of its steps, though he, at least, either didn’t care or couldn’t bear notice the following spotted orbiter. The stares must’ve been limitless, their intents and faces unrivaled in ranks of whatever their dear sears, though all that remained beyond the rustling of shallow grass, the bubbly breeze, and syrupy scent was a great gaze of steel.

“There?”

A few neared, followed their faces into the same indefinite trance. Shadows passed, their forms dissipated into the clump—he couldn’t be left behind, he soon decided. Around the pond of unforgiving gloom, they congregated, so much so he was out of space to stand by the few who still lurked alongside his altitude.

There was another digitized sigh in the rear, yet despite how distinct, it seemed only he noticed.

“Who’s it gonna be this time?” Beep-0 groaned.

“I—”

“This is a forest, isn’t it?” He sagged all the way to a dirt stage for the audience all above. “Place your bets, everyone! I’m setting either some huge flower or a giant vine into the ring—any first takers?”

Starlow and Dreambert looked, shook at each other.

“I’m sorry?” Kersti said, a sincereness unrivaled.

Huey sighed. “What’s the ‘big bad’ gonna be this time? We’re heading somewhere new, so _something_ ’s—”

Starlow jumped. “Don’t!—jinx it...”

“Hmm?”

She passed her eye to the pit, the bridge just crossed, and the soda stream. “Don’t even _say_ anything like that. I swear, it can just be a _single_ word, then the whole moment’s destroyed—no exceptions, no corrections.”

The few spared their glances over each other—whoever else forever silent groping eyes in the varying shade. He spanned his hand somewhere across a few tufts of grass, fluffy puffs, flowers, whatnot lining the ground, but it was all seconds the tranquility lasted; the silence churned above all.

“In we go?”

“Uh-huh.”

Someone sighed. Without so much a vague eye of uncertainty, even care, their last faced the sodded trapdoor, the lining ladder, and approached to obscurity. He rubbed his mask’s eyeholes, looked to a bunch too clumped, then rubbed some more, mumbling to himself. The cold neared, a stamping drooped from the ceramic stars, and he followed the faintest sense to the soil, to Plant’s stem, barely comfortable.

They fell to darkness, all to savor of them a shiver each under final sunlight. His pole twisted, hushing all, at once, and steadily, he felt the nearing breath of an ice so frozen it could’ve only been the deepest cosmos shaping its climate. One fell, then another, lights into the searing subground, faint nothings of those who didn’t glow; at last, he rubbed his support, whimpered, and latched his tightest grip over the stem. Sooner came the regrettable clacks, metallic buzzing and tapping before BZZT too fell behind the murky ladder, then, after nothing of a second to savor as he hugged his carrier even tighter, they fell the very same, spelunking somewhere into the shadows where all lurked anew, holding hands in the darkness—however virtually.

“You’re the indifferent one,” Huey’s voice echoed from beneath, “so why are you so bothered about what there might be to fight?”

“Don’t _even_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To get straight to the point: this work is getting cancelled. And I made a [Discord](https://discord.gg/Z4yF5thyeU) :D
> 
> So the most predominant question: _Why's it been so long since the last update_? Simply put, this has just been one of my lowest, if not _the_ lowest priority work I've had on mind. Sure, it's another multichapter to sink my time into when I run out of things to do, and sure, there's plenty motive with this trio I still adore sticking into words. Only, impediments arose—countless other concepts sacked my mind and got me onto the indefinite train of other writings, other fandoms, and other characters I enjoy even more (of course, I'm back _now_ , but that's besides the point).
> 
> Almost a year (10 months, 24 days, I did the math) has flown right by since I last spoke a single word of a new chapter around here. In that time a whole new Paper Mario game has been announced and released, a draft for this work's Chapter 6 has come and gone, and just a couple days ago, I hit my first anniversary of beginning writing. Meanwhile, Lil' Sparky over here has made two cameos (one iffy to consider), two direct appearances (plus another sorta), and countless references throughout my works. As much as I was originally a sucker over here for Shy Guy throughout writing of the first few chapters, he became nothing near my favorite character, original or canon, spawned from this work.
> 
> So BZZT... I'm not sure how clear I made this from my first days of writing, but BZZT is a Goombeetle (those helmeted Goombas from the Galaxy games). It quickly overtook the spot as my favorite character (probably favorite original character of mine as of this writing) from this work around last September, when somehow, it just popped back to my mind. Why'd I give it a plug, anyway? What's with the stripes? On both of those, I'm honestly wondering the same things; I can't even remember how BZZT came to be past me recently playing Galaxy and its sequel, seeing the Goombeetles, and thinking " _Oh, these guys look pretty cool_."
> 
> Now to the actual stuff I've written here—first I just wanna point out how I have no idea why this forest turned into a soda-specific variety. After writing Popper (and its attribution to "bubbling goop", a.k.a. soda), I guess, everything just shifted to reflect that. I didn't name the forest here, but that's because I didn't have a finalized title for it, not because I couldn't find a spot for it. My main considerations were Fizzly Forest, Fizzly Thicket, and Fizzled Grove, though I just couldn't settle on any of them.
> 
> I just mentioned Poppers, so I might as well reiterate the nonexistent: yes, many of these enemies featured throughout this work are original enemies. Honestly, one of the major points of me beginning this in the first place was to see my few concepts in action, to describe their behaviors in a Mario & Luigi setting. Now that that's done, I can confirm what prior me had hoped—it was absolutely a good time getting to make these enemies act, even just creating them in general. Slight insight to most's creation: I come up with names first, then get to designs based around them. I like to think I don't have any particular way of creating these names, though I can definitely tell a lot of these (especially the ones that showed up here) are puns; those are easiest, I guess. To keep it all together, here's every original enemy featured here, in order of appearance: BZZT (technically still fought), Chuzz, Trawn, Frizzy, Dark Sneed, Flifitrio, Tibutron, Popper, Werfer, Rola, and Gramball. I have plenty others, though I'd rather not find/remember them all to list them.
> 
> On a similar topic of original content, I guess, I also had a limited supply of Special Attacks planned. While I had the idea to incorporate some of the partners into the attacks themselves, I didn't really carry out with that. I'll try my best to explain the first here: Plant and BZZT would dash back far, toss a series of spaced, straight rings into the sky before them, then BZZT would stand back and ready a spark from its plug. After being delivered to Plant, all three would work together to bounce the spark forward—each of the three representing a different element to influence the orb with: Plant for fire, BZZT for thunder, and Shy Guy for neutrality. Think Luiginiary Flame, just with the trio dashing to keep up with the projectile instead of Luigi clones in place. Another attack I had was just something involving a Snifit mask for Shy Guy—from there I hadn't a clue.
> 
> Unfortunately, I just have too many other projects to leave this above "indefinite hiatus". I'm kinda going to miss getting to write out these enemy patterns and behaviors—but whatever happens, the Darkness Dementers will somehow be remembered by me. Keep your adventure forward; points of conflict inflict you nothing of impediment.
> 
> I'll see ya' somewhere, Sparky.


End file.
